Power of Three
by crashmanboy
Summary: Ichigo, Randii, and Benetto Kurosaki struggled to fit in. Their looks made them outcasts and the town labeled them as thugs. On top of that, they had the ability to see spirits. Meeting someone who changed their lives was definitely weird, strange, and, dare they say it, exciting. Not to mention meeting the loves of their lives as well. IchiYoru, OCxTia, OCxNel I don't own Bleach
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, this is Crashmanboy, back at you with another story and this time I will attempt to do the entire Bleach anime (and only the anime) in my own vision. Ever wonder if Ichigo had brothers and they were all triplets, not just our favorite Strawberry having two younger twin sisters, but having four siblings under the same roof as him? And his brothers were substitute Soul Reapers as well? Well, that's what I am attempting to do. Now I am only a watcher of the anime, and only the dubbed version because I can only watch TV or movies when they're in English, and I know very little information on the Thousand Year Blood War arc (which I really hope with Kubo being at an anime convention in late March in Japan and having a panel on an upcoming Bleach project that the announcment being featured in the panel is the anime will be coming back), so much so that I know only a few bits of basic information like for example, Isshin Kurosaki was a Shiba and was captain of Squad 10, Masaki was a Quincy, Ichigo's Inner Hollow is his Zanpakuto, basic stuff, so I will only do the anime so I don't get flamed by someone saying that "I don't know shit about Bleach" and "You are an idiot for writing about stuff that you have barely any knowledge on" and I don't want that to happen to me.**

**If you have read "Undead", then you know about the two OCs that I created, Randy Isaacson and Bennett Bordeaux. They will be Ichigo's brothers and I already have the pairings in mind so don't ask who will be with who. Bennett will be with Tia Halibel, Randy will be with Nel, and Ichigo will be with Yoruichi. Since Bleach is set in Japan, they will have Japanese names. I have already found the Japanese equivalents for both OCs first names and their nicknames will be their English names since the Quincies have European origins and I suspect that because Masaki was a Quincy, she would probably be bilingual speaking both Japanese and English. In my story, she does and gave my OCs names when they were born that had both an English version and Japanese version. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an English equivalent for Ichigo's name that started with an I. So Ichigo's the only son that won't have an English nickname. But if someone does happen to know or find out what his English name equivalent would be, please PM me or leave a review saying what the name is. I would greatly appreciate it.**

**Just so you know beforehand, Randy's Japanese name is Randii and Bennett's is Benetto.**

**And on a side note, readers: If you are on Deviantart or an artist, please create some fanart of the three brothers with their girlfriends (again, if you have read "Undead", then you know who their girlfriends are going to be) and send it to me so I can use it as the cover art for this story. I also want to find proper translations for original Zanpakuto for Randy and Bennett, but I cannot find the translation I am looking for. I need for both of their Zanpakuto to have getsu in the name because they're Ichigo's twin brothers and since Isshin has a getsu Zanpakuto, it would make sense that it runs in the family, so they would have original getsu Zanpakuto. Bennett's Zanpakuto will be named Screaming Moon and his bankai will be Demonic Edge Screaming Moon and Randy's Zanpakuto will be named Reaping Moon and his bankai will be Godly Death Reaping Moon, but I don't know the actual Japanese romaji translation for these names since it is hard finding a trustworthy and accurate Japanese Romaji translation tool online that actually works. So I need some help finding the translation. If anybody knows a trustworthy app or website that I can use for this, again, please send me a PM or leave a review telling me the translations or website or app. As I said before, I would greatly appreciate it.**

**Alright, let's get this show on the road.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

Karakura Town. A small city in western Tokyo, Japan. Home to about 100,000 people. And school had just let out for the day at the local high school and its students were eager to be going home to their families. They were tired and wanted to get their homework done for the night before dinner. Most did not have any trouble walking home, except for three boys who were kicking the asses of a bunch of the city's gang members. The gang members had decided to harass the boys because of each of their hair colors, as well as try to pick a fight with them. Unfortunately for the thugs, fate was not kind to them. Again. Seriously, the same three boys would get harassed by different members and each time that happened, the gang members would not walk away cleanly from their fight, all with huge purple bruises and other injuries and sore everywhere on their bodies. Frankly, it was getting old to the boys, but it would never change.

After the three boys finished handing the older males their backsides on a silver platter, they picked up their bags and walked off, leaving a pile of broken and beaten men behind them. In the light of the sun, their hair could been seen, then their faces showed themselves, followed by the rest of them. In the middle was a tall 6'1" boy with tanned skin and a shock of spiky orange hair in the Karakura High School uniform, just as the other boys were. Ichigo Kurosaki. One of the four prime targets of gangs and delinquents in the city. To his right was his twin brother, Randii "Randy" Kurosaki, an equally tall male with blond hair in long spikes and the sides of his head shaved. On the left of Ichigo was his other twin brother, Benetto "Bennett" Kurosaki, the tallest of the brothers standing at 6'4" with black locks gelled into a full fanned mohawk with the fan dyed blue, red, green, and auburn. Many students knew not to get in a fight with them, but the gangs weren't smart enough to heed that advice.

All three boys were labeled as delinquents by the teachers and it was not easy for them to get through life with their looks. Even though Bennett was the only one born with a hair color that was typically attributed to the Japanese, he had started spiking his hair at the start of his middle school years in addition to the hair dye he put in because he had heard about the trends in the US and Britain and wanted to be unique, so he lived a punk lifestyle, always wearing his trademark black long sleeved overcoat with gold shoulder pads, white sleeveless shirt, gold pants with silver outlines tucked into his black boots, and white fingerless gloves along with a black and white belt with a silver buckle and straps that looked like suspenders which hung at his sides after school hours and around town. Ichigo and Randy, on the other hand, each had an unusual hair color that Japanese did not normally have. Blonde and orange, colors that foreigners had. While Ichigo's attire was made up of a blue shirt with a 15 on it, blue jeans, white high top Converse, a black studded belt, and a heavy black coat with a fur lined hood and Randy's outfit consisted of a gray hoodie, green t-shirt, black jeans, a pair of blue Adidas basketball shoes, and a white puffer vest, it just was not enough to keep the idiots from harassing them for looking different and supposedly bleaching their hair. It had been like that for as long as they could remember. People would look at the brothers and think, 'What kind of parent bleaches their kids' hair at 6 years old?' and later on in life, they would try to steer clear of the three because they looked like "thugs".

The brothers were about halfway home when Randy started talking about how he was going to play the new LEGO Universe game he bought. It was in English because LEGO did not make the MMOG in the Japanese language. Luckily, that was not an issue since he spoke both English and Japanese. He said he wanted to play it as soon as possible, but had to pick it up at the LEGO store across town.

"I got all of us copies. We can play when we have downtime. It looks like a good game." said the blond Kurosaki.

"We might as well play, you usually have a very keen eye on what is a good video game. If it can keep Goat-chin away from us, then I'm all for it." Ichigo added his two cents, scowling at the image of his crazy father attacking them in order to "make them into strong men and not whiny babies".

The third brother chuckled, "I still don't get how that man is our— oh, are you freaking serious?!" his voice yelling at the end.

The others looked at him like he had lost his marbles. "What?" said Randy.

"Tell me, what do you see up ahead?" They looked in front of them and saw what he meant and why he was angry.

Ahead was a group of skaters circling around attempting to do tricks on their boards, but that wasn't why Bennett was pissed. Over to the side was a vase on its side and the flowers originally inside of it were crushed, most likely from the skaters running over them. Seeing the flowers on the street tossed like they were trash got the siblings angry. Those flowers were for a young girl who was killed there. You just don't disrespect the dead like that. It was insulting and extremely despicable.

They walked up to the skaters and Bennett cocked his fist back and decked the leader straight in the jaw while Randy roundhouse kicked another in the head and Ichigo superkicked a third in between the eyes. The older boys fell on the pavement groaning holding their heads and faces.

The fourth skater shouted, "Hey, what's the big idea, man? What did you do that to my friends for?" That ended up being a mistake.

Randy pointed at the vase and shook with fury. "That vase of flowers was a memorial for a girl who died here. Anyone want to tell to us why it was on the ground with the flowers completely obliterated?!"

The other boys had gotten up and were looking for a fight, but nearly pissed themselves seeing the evil look in the triplets' eyes. If looks could kill, the skaters would have been six feet under in a wooden coffin. "W-w-w-w-we p-p-probably kn-kn-knocked it over while we were s-s-s-s-skating." They whimpered in fear. Forget going six feet under. If the looks were anything to go by, they would have been wiped from existence completely without so much as a word.

The orange haired teen kicked one of the skaters in the face with a punt. "Correct! Now apologize!"

The boys cried out, "We're sorry!"

"NO! Not to me, to the girl!"

"Huh?" The leader questioned. Chalk up another mistake for the skaters.

"DO IT!"

"Okay, okay! We're sorry for knocking over your memorial!" They broke down in tears from being so scared of the boys.

"Now get out of here, and don't come back here again!" yelled Ichigo. The skaters scrambled to pick up their boards and run away with their tails between their legs. The siblings watched them sprint out of the area, content that they made the skaters regret their actions.

Bennett said to seemingly no one, "Hey, you okay?" and a young girl came out of hiding behind a wall and nodded at him. She was strikingly adorable for someone who had died so young, but a unusual feature about her was the hexagonal plate in the middle of her chest with a moderately sized chain connected to it. The strange thing was, she was the same girl Randy was talking about earlier, but only the brothers could see her because of the fact that she was dead. That was what was unique about the 3 Kurosaki boys, they had the ability to see dead people and also interact with them.

Randy bent down to pick up the vase and flowers and set them upright on the street. "Don't worry about those guys. They won't be coming back. We'll bring you some new flowers tomorrow."

The girl said very timidly, "Thank you."

The 3 teens continued walking down the street. They continued talking about the game Randy bought them. After about 10 minutes, they arrived at the LEGO store a couple of blocks from their house. Randy told them to wait outside while he went inside to get the game discs and pay for them. He came out a few minutes later and showed off the disc boxes to his brothers. He approved of the look of interest on their faces and thought to himself, 'Hook, line, and sinker.'

They walked to the block the Kurosaki Clinic, which their crazy nutjob of a patriarch ran and owned, and household was on. They opened the door and immediately after they walked in, Bennett was attacked by a flying Isshin Kurosaki and put into a Full Nelson lock. "Damn it, old man! What the hell's wrong with you?! Every day it's the same crap with you, attacking the three of us nonstop." The older male tossed his tallest son into the wall and leaped into a dropkick position, hitting his other sons with one leg in each face.

Their father said, "You are late! You were supposed to be home 30 minutes ago for dinner." The Kurosaki men started fighting with each other. Their scuffle continued until Ichigo landed an axe kick on Isshin's cranium and he went down, resulting in the fight dying down.

A young girl's voice called out, "Ichigo, Randy, Bennett, stop fighting with Dad and come get dinner. It's getting cold." They all looked over at a cute little light haired girl in a dress and apron, Yuzu Kurosaki, their younger sister by 4 years and the one in charge of the chores of the household ever since their mother died sometime ago. They sighed and shook their heads at her innocence. The brothers walked over to the table and picked up their food, intending to take it to their rooms to eat.

Their other sister sitting at the table, Karin, a tomboyish black haired girl in gym shorts and a t-shirt, then stated, "You guys have another ghost following you."

They looked behind themselves in surprise. "Wha— again?" There was a floating spirit attempting to be discreet in following the boys. "Yo, you can't just follow me and my brothers home like that just because we can see you! It is wack and creepy, man!" said the blond brother. The spirit just looked at him. Randy sighed, "You don't even care, do you? Figures. We seem to attract more ghosts than ever before."

"Forget it, Randy. Let's just eat in our room, then go to bed." said the punkish teen while walking up the stairs to the triplets' bedrooms with his twin brothers trudging after him, each of them carrying a plate of food.

Unfortunately, Isshin chose that exact moment to act like an utter manchild. "Uwah, uwah, uwah! Why won't my delinquent sons listen to their handsome father?"

Karin closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She was already getting a migraine and a kid should not be able to get a migraine at such a young age. "Probably because you are so completely immature. Nobody wants to listen to a grown adult who behaves like they're in middle school, Dad. It's hard for them enough being teens in the ninth grade and being outcasts in life and seeing dead people does not make it any easier either. I'm pretty sure they have been seeing a lot more ghosts lately. And that is not improving their mood, in fact it is making them more pissed off than usual. And Ichigo, Randii, and Benetto definitely will not talk to you because you are a childish 10 year-old in a man's body!"

Yuzu pouted. "You shouldn't be mean to Dad like that, Karin. He's just looking out for us." Her twin sibling frowned. Leave it to her to make excuses about Isshin's antics. Karin couldn't blame her. After their mother died, Yuzu took over cleaning the house, cooking meals, and other daily tasks around the house. And she still believed their father was taking care of them. From the younger raven haired Kurosaki's perspective, the man was a baby in adult form and could not take care of a pet fish, much less himself. The girl had her suspicions that he had something to do with her fish, Guppy, dying when she was younger, which in her mind proved her right about his inability to take care of a single living thing. She looked over at the aforementioned buffoon. He was in a fetal position on the floor and crying about 'how his sweet little Karin didn't care about her awesome dad and what would Masaki do' right under the giant memorial poster of their mother.

"That man couldn't tell the difference between his butt and his face. What makes you think he can take care of us by himself?"

"..."

"My point exactly."

Meanwhile, Ichigo was putting the LEGO Universe game disc inside his computer in his room while the others were doing the same. They had already eaten dinner in their respective rooms and opened up each of their disc boxes containing the MMOG and turned on their computer. The orangette watched the game start installing on his desktop and waited. After about an hour of everyone finishing homework and subsequently waiting, the game was done setting up. He clicked on the icon and Lego Universe booted up. Ichigo set up his gaming headset and did a quick test on the mic. Seeing that it was functional and transmitting sound properly, he went to Bennett's room and asked, "Bennett, got yours set up?" The boy nodded and Ichigo called down the hall, "Randy, you good?"

"Yeah, it's ready. I already created my account, but you two need to do that as well. Once you do that on the LEGO website, just sign in to your account in the login screen and create your minifigure. Let's come up with names that are similar in design and tell each other that way we know who each other is. If you create another character, tell us and what scheme you used to make your custom name. That way, we can identify each other's characters in-game."

They agreed and decided on the naming scheme for their first characters. The result of that was them naming their minifigures a combination of gaming characters. Bennett's was Hanzo Kenway, Ichigo's was John Ryu, and Randy's was Drake Marcus, each containing references to Mortal Kombat, Assassin's Creed, Halo, Uncharted, Street Fighter, or Gears of War. They each played for about an hour until each of them reached Nimbus Station as well as the mission to choose a faction to join. After that, they logged off their accounts and shut off their laptops, crawling into bed with each falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

A small figure stoop atop a hill on the outskirts of the town, seemingly waiting for something to occur. They were dressed in a black kimono and had a sword strapped to the side of the outfit. The person in question was a petite black haired teenage girl with amethyst eyes with an indifferent expression upon her face. She frowned as if trying to sense something in the town. If there was anything to sense, it was being blocked by 3 immensely powerful signatures that she could not identify. 'There are multiple other spiritual pressures interfering with my senses. I thought I was the only Soul Reaper assigned to this city. What's more is they are extremely high. I am sure no captains were told to enter the Human World in the area. And if these signatures are not captains, then what or who does they belong to? Could this be related to why my spirit energy is somehow disappearing from my body in this specific town?' pondered the female. Wanting to find answers to her questions and predicament, she jumped off the hill and disappeared in a flash.

* * *

The next day, the 3 brothers decided to go walk around the town just to talk and chat. Isshin had gone to a series of meetings at the local hospital to discuss some things and would be back later in the day, so the siblings had time to themselves. But something had unnerved them quite a bit earlier in the morning. The news had reported a series of explosions happening in the area and they noticed it was right in the middle between the school and their residence. They attempted to ignore it, however. 'It's probably a coincidence. Just because it was close to the house does not mean someone decided to blow up a bunch of bombs and cause an attack.' Ichigo thought on the subject.

Bennett went off to buy flowers for the dead girl while the others waited for him at the memorial site. The strange thing was that the spirit was nowhere in sight. Ichigo half-heartedly commented that the girl might have moved on. Randy didn't think so. Something didn't feel right to them. There was a foreboding feeling crawling up and down their spines like a bunch of venomous spiders had made their home in their backs. Bennett returned sometime later and the feeling still lingered.

Just as the midnight-haired boy placed the flowers in the vase, a loud roar shook the area. The boys went bug-eyed and looked in the direction the sound originated from which was in the business district. Ichigo shouted to his brothers, "What was that?!"

"It sounds like a wild animal, but what's an animal doing in the downtown area?" yelled Bennett. They broke into a mad sprint and rushed downtown, their legs going as fast as they could possibly run. The three teens made it just as a mob of people were running past them to get away from something that was engulfed in a large dust cloud. The brothers looked on in horror as the dust cloud dispersed to reveal something horrifying.

A large creature stood in the middle of the street, but it looked as if no one but them could see it. The distinguishing features about the monster was the freakish bone white mask covering its head and face and a hole centered in the middle of its chest. It was very freakish and looked like an oversized insect. The monster walked slowly toward the boys, stalking them like a predator hunting its prey. They looked on in shock and slowly started to back up.

A second figure jumped out of the cloud of dirt, surprising the boys who were startled by the sudden appearance of the second organism. A short female wielding a sword and dressed in black slashed at the creature, cutting off its arm which resulted in the appendage falling to the street. The demon roared in pain at the loss of its limb, but the girl merely looked at it in disinterest before lifting her weapon in preparation for another attack. She leaped into its direction and swung downward, the sword colliding with the white mask and cleaving it in two with the monster disintegrating into absolute nothingness like it was never there to begin with. The teenaged woman gracefully glided down to the street from the air and flicked her sword to eliminate the blood from the blade nonchalantly as if she had gotten mere dust on the beautifully crafted piece of steel and wanted to get rid of it.

The teens blinked dumbly like a bunch of owls. Many questions were swimming through their minds and they tried opening their mouths to formulate a sentence, but could not speak due to the shock of what they had witnessed. The girl looked back at them through the side of her vision and saw them staring at her, but scoffed and simply assumed that they were only humans and were gawking and stupidly looking at the damage around them instead of her.

She disappeared in a single movement, leaving the teenage boys to wonder, 'Who was that and what exactly was she fighting?'

They heard sirens in the distance and gritted their teeth, knowing the area would about to be swarmed with medics, firefighters, and irritating police officers who would immediately assume they had something to do with the damage because of their history of fighting with gang members and try to question them, and they did not need to deal with that. Looking at each other and nodding, they sneaked out of downtown without being noticed by the authorities and returned home.

When Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett came home, they went straight to Bennett's room and each sat down on the bed or in a chair. No words were exchanged, but it was clear they were all thinking about what they witnessed in the city. A couple minutes passed and finally the silence was broken.

"So, what did I exactly see downtown? I wasn't seeing things, was I? I mean, I thought I saw a—" started Bennett, but he was interrupted by his red-headed brother.

"—petite teenage girl in a kimono use a sword to destroy a freakish monster with a hole in its chest and bizarre white mask? I saw that too," finished Ichigo. "Although after seeing that creature disappear into thin air, I'm not entirely sure that it was destroyed because there was nothing left over. What happened to it, that looked more like it was dissolving."

Randy said, "What was up with the girl though? It was like she was invisible to everyone but us. Same with the monster. People were running away in a general direction from it, but not once did someone go inside a building to hide. If they saw it, they would have gone for cover, but no one did. I think the people running thought something had exploded or blown up. The people certainly did not act like a demon was terrorizing them."

"There's something else that's bugging me. The hole in its chest, it looked like something was originally there, but was forcefully removed. What ever was there must have been very important."

The mohawk-sporting brother then remembered something that pissed him off. "If I ever see that midget again, I will give a piece of my mind for giving me that damn look! She looked at us like we were lower than dirt!"

The blond triplet gained a angry look. "That little brat! Does she get off on looking down on others?! That girl probably has a giant pole stuck up her ass." growled out Randy, obviously not pleased and very much ready to go on a rampage looking for the puny bitch. He hated it when others looked down on him, especially when they thought he was a thug who would not amount to much in life because of his looks. Ichigo, on the other hand, did not care what other people thought about him, because he knew himself better than a bunch of prejudicial bigots did. And Bennett? He would tune it out and ignore them, not budging and not giving in to what they expected him to do when proving them was much more satisfying.

The rest of them laughed at what he said. No matter how true it was, it was so absurd that it was absolutely hilarious to the other two. After they were done with laughing (Randy eventually stopped being mad and started laughing too, causing Bennett and Ichigo to laugh even harder to the point they fell off the bed and ended up on the floor) and the laughter had died down to snickering, Ichigo said, "Well, let's hope we don't meet someone like her who has an even bigger pole up their ass."

* * *

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a certain black-haired man dressed in a white haori was sipping his afternoon tea and relaxing when he suddenly sneezed. 'Which blasted individual is talking about me this time?'

* * *

The sun had set in Karakura Town and the boys had decided to think on the event sometime later, so they continued playing Lego Universe on their desktops. Right before their previous collaborative gaming session, Ichigo had set up a private voice chat channel so they could talk to each other while playing. This session, however, was much longer than the one prior. As a result, they explored more of the game and each chose a faction and a specialty kit, with Ichigo choosing The Sentinels and the Samurai kit, Bennett staking his claim on The Paradox and the Shinobi kit, and Randy selecting The Venture League and the Daredevil kit.

The voice chat, unfortunately, led to them throwing (colorful) insults at each other when someone would steal a kill on certain worlds like Crux Prime and reaped the rewards or other things that they considered "complete bullshit" according to them.

"Oh come on, you putz! You got more faction tokens than when I killed that stupid dragon. That is literally mining for cryptocurrency in this game, you mentally challenged rooster!"

"Oi! It is not! And considering that you are part of the only faction that can block any attack and take no damage whatsoever, I am entitled to taking more tokens, so kiss my punk ass, Captain Crunch! And— wait a minute! RRRRRAAAAANNNNDDDYYYYY! You stupid ball muncher, you hung me out to dry with the freaking Spiderlings! You traitorous bastard!"

"Yeah, well you shouldn't have ditched me at the Ninjago Monastery and tricked me into trading all my consumable items for a useless weapon, so ha! Serves you right, crackhead wannabe!"

Yep, colorful insults to say the least.

Eventually, they calmed down and instead started made bad jokes in the voice chat, laughing their asses off at the absurdity of it all. About the end of the session, Randy was cracking a joke about their teachers and a fellow female classmate who had a habit of trying to grope other girls when the short girl from the incident earlier in the day phased through the ceiling of his room while not seeing him at all and the blond Kurosaki heard a sound behind him, proceeded to turn around in his chair, and widen his eyes at the sight of the petite female standing in the middle of the room.

"Where could it be?" the girl questioned to herself, not knowing he could hear, and unknown to Randy himself, his brothers heard the unfamiliar voice through the headsets on their heads and shot out of the chairs in each other's rooms, dashing towards the third boy's habitat to protect him.

Randy took the opportunity to tap the girl on the shoulder and she whipped around, shocked that he could actually see her. He merely raised a blond eyebrow at seeing how surprised she was. "And what is it exactly that you are looking for around here?"

She began stuttering. "Y-you can s-see me?"

"Yeah, why is that so surprising to you?"

Before she could answer, the door flew open and Randy's two brothers burst in. They saw the girl standing there immediately and Ichigo exclaimed, "You're the girl we saw attacking that masked creature downtown!"

It suddenly clicked in the female's mind where she had seen these boys. "You're those boys that were in front of that Hollow," she inspected them closely, looking at the teens like there was something wrong with them. "You don't look any different from a normal human. So how is it possible you could see me and the Hollow?"

Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy stared blankly at her. "Excuse me? How could we not see you and whatever you just called the monster downtown? If a normal human couldn't... wait, are you saying that you are a ghost?" said the tallest brother, becoming a little worried at the possibility that a ghost, and a female one at that, was standing inside one of their rooms. The thought of a teenage girl inside of their rooms made him start freaking out that the Kurosaki patriarch would see her and start to bawl about "One of my delinquent sons finally brought my third daughter home and now I'll have grandchildren!" However, Bennett remembered that their father could not see spirits and he mentally breathed a sigh of relief. He did not need to have "The Talk" when he was still only in his first year of high school and he knew that Randy and Ichigo didn't want to deal with that crap either.

"Yes, I am a ghost, or Soul Reaper more accurately." the Soul Reaper confirmed. The term at the end made Randy express that he wanted a little more clarification on what this girl actually meant by that word. Sighing in resignation, she began to sit down when a stray thought crossed her mind. 'Why did these three humans see the Hollow? What is it that is different about them?' she sent out a pulse of spiritual pressure and what she discovered made her awe-struck. 'It's them, the three captain level presences I felt last night! And what's more is that their energy is siphoning off my own. How?! They're just humans! Well, no time to dwell on this, I'll just get answers from Captain Ukitake and Byakuya when I return from my assignment. Now, back to the matter at hand.'

She told them about what her task was as a Soul Reaper and what that monster, a Hollow, or a corrupted dead soul, was, giving a short explanation about what she was supposed to do here in Karakura Town, such as purifying hollows in the area as well as guiding dead souls nearby to a place called the Soul Society. She also introduced herself as Rukia Kuchiki, a member of Squad 13 of the 13 Court Guard Squads. Seeing as they never told Rukia their names, they introduced themselves. After that, the small spirit finished her explanation and took a deep breath. "So that is the basis of my job. "

The three teens wondered if she had seen the girl they visited the day before, but their thoughts were interrupted by a wail coming from outside and each of them went rigid. Ichigo exclaimed, "Well, if your task is to purify hollows that appear in the human world, then go stop the one that just came near here!"

"I can't, not until my senses are unblocked and I can sense their presence clearly, and what are you—" And then she heard the wailing from the street. "That came from down below!" A crash and screaming could be heard a few seconds after.

"RANDII! ICHIGO! BENETTO! HELP!"

"That was Yuzu!" shouted Randy. All of them rushed downstairs, only to find a gaping hole in the wall of the house and broken furniture strewn across the room. Isshin was slumped against the opposite wall with a gash on his head and blood trickling down the bridge of his nose. Yuzu had only small scrapes on her arms and legs and covered in dust, but she would be fine. And Karin... oh god, where was Karin? Yuzu managed to gently lift her head, but descended into a fit of coughs, probably from the dust in the air.

"Bennett... Randy... Ichigo... Karin's in trouble." she continued coughing, trying to sit up to look at her older brothers.

"It's going to be okay, Zu. We'll keep you and Karin safe. You need to rest."

"Alright..." Yuzu promptly fell into a blissful state of unconsciousness.

Bennett rushed outside with Rukia following and saw his younger sister being grasped in the hands of a ugly Hollow, squeezing the life out of her. She screamed in pain. He got pissed off and called Ichigo and Randy outside and the two boys came and witnessed what was happening before their very eyes. They grew angry as well and roared in fury and the siblings began to charge the Hollow until Rukia shouted out a sort of chant three separate times. "Bakudo #1. Sai!" Instantly, their arms went behind their backs and they fell down at the sudden loss of momentum. "You can't just charge in blindly like that, you'll be killed! I put that Kido spell on you three to keep you away from this fight. This is what I was trained for, stay there and don't move!" she drew her sword and flashed to the Hollow, slashing at its arms and legs in an attempt to immobilize it, eventually freeing Karin from its grasp..

The fight started out fine with the Soul Reaper keeping the hollow on the defensive. However, what she did not account for was it to start moving towards her acquaintances. She turned toward them to get them out there and she saw a flash of golden light come from each of them while pulling their arms from behind their back. They were breaking the Bakudo! The light ceased and the boys stood there unharmed, but with the hollow bearing down on them.

Unknown to Rukia, the spirit energy inside of her reacted violently and it pulled away from her. She immediately felt it and before she could say anything, a beam of light shot from her body and raced towards Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett before splitting into three separate beams of equal size and engulfed them, covering them entirely. 'What's happening?! They were breaking the Kido, which, for a human, is an incredible feat, even if they have captain level reserves and pressures, and then my spirit energy just tore away from my body! No, it didn't tear away, it transferred to them. That's why it was disappearing in the first place, it was being transferred from me to them. That's why that first hollow was walking toward them in the city, its targets were the Kurosaki brothers!' The light covered her as well for a couple seconds, then died down. When it disappeared, she was revealed to be wearing white robes and subsequently collapsed in a heap.

She looked up and saw the remaining light columns vanish. Seeing what had happened to the teenagers, the Kuchiki princess could only stare in shock and wonder as her jaw dropped to the floor. 'No way... I have only heard rumors about transferring powers to a human, but how is it possible without a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto piercing the recipient's heart?'

The triplets stood there in front of the hollow, which had backed up upon the show of light, each wearing a variation of the standard Soul Reaper robes and in possession of a standard katana. Ichigo wore a black uniform with the sleeves ripped off as well as a black bandana-like mask covering his lower face and all of his neck and bluish-gray bandages wrapped around his forearms while Randy was dressed in a modified uniform with only the right side of the top present and the left missing with white bandages covering all of his torso and arms while reaching his neck and black straps over top of the bandages wrapped around his chest and arms, not to mention the sport face mask on his face and Bennett did not even have a top to the uniform, it was just black wrappings covering all of his upper body and lower face, obscuring his nose and mouth, and small chains dangling from the straps attached to his wrist.

All in all, the sight was pretty damn intimidating to anyone who saw them. They exuded a powerful presence that promised pain, suffering, and an agonizing death to any who opposed them. It was frightening to the Soul Reaper present and she did not want to be around them any more than she needed to be. She had never felt this level of power before, the only Soul Reaper that could claim to be just as powerful was Head Captain Yamamoto and even then she felt they could give him a run for his money and still be rearing to go again.

Bennett flash stepped towards the Hollow and cut off its legs in one single motion. Randy copied and sliced through its left arm while Ichigo made sure the corrupted spirit no longer had possession of its right arm. The demonic creature fell to its knees and screeched, but the newly christened Soul Reapers ignored the pitiful excuse of a monster's cries of pain. Together, they brought down their katanas down on the mask, bisecting it, resulting in the Hollow dissolving into nothingness.

The victory was short-lived, unfortunately. Due to the strain on their teenage bodies from gaining newly found power that would grow in strength and intensity, the three brothers collapsed and passed out on the spot.

"My god, who are they? Three humans who gain the powers of a Soul Reaper from siphoning off spirit energy from another Soul Reaper and have captain-level pressures and reserves. Just what have I stumbled upon?"

A mischievous voice said, "Boys who will one day be greater men than anyone can possibly imagine, Miss Kuchiki."

Startled by the answer she was not intending to receive, the Kuchiki girl turned to the location of the origin of the voice. Her eyes gazed upon a shifty-eyed man in an odd attire made up of wooden clogs, a green-and-white-striped bucket hat, black haori, and green robes.

"Who are you?"

He sported a lazy grin. "Who am I? Nothing more than a humble shopkeeper. Now let's get the boys back in the house and remedy this mess, shall we?"

* * *

**So, how'd I do? Please don't criticize me if I got some of the Spiritual Pressure and Energy details a little mixed up, I always had trouble following how the two terms worked in certain things, not what they were, but how they were incorporated in different techniques and which term was actually used.**

**This is my first attempt at a Bleach story that is like the universe established in the manga, consisting of Soul Reapers, Hollows, and Quincy instead of an all human universe. I will try to work on both Undead and Power of Three one chapter at a time, basically writing a chapter for Undead, then PoT, then Undead, then PoT, you get the idea. It won't be easy and this will take a long time to complete, but I will do my best to get it done. If anyone would like to help me write this story and be a co-author, then PM me and ask. This is a long project, I may certainly need a partner to help write this story. **

**I forget to mention, I need a suggestion for a Sternritter to use as Randy's Quincy powers Manifestation, one that would fit his personality well. I have one already in mind for Bennett. If you can guess who I am using for him, then you get a virtual cookie.**

**Crash, out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**What's up? I'm back.**

**So an anonymous friend has been helping me with some constructive criticism and good comments, basically saying what I have done well and what I can do better and change around in the story so that it does not seem like I am just following canon. I am grateful for them doing that cause it helps me grow as a writer and really keeps me wanting to continue writing the story.**

**I also got some help from a fellow author named Momentei for my translations for Bennett's and Randy's Zanpakuto. They got a pretty accurate translation for the names and the names are pretty close to what I originally wanted, albeit a little different, but it's no big deal.**

**Bennett's Shikai is Shugetsu (Screaming Moon) and his Bankai is Kijin Shugetsu (Demon Blade Screaming Moon). And Randy's Shikai is Gaigetsu (Reaping Moon) and his Bankai is Rokuhei Gaigetsu (Divine Death Reaping Moon).**

**Also, for those who don't know what Lego Universe is, I shall explain. Lego Universe was a MMOG created by Lego and another company called NetDevil. It was set in a universe that was entirely made up of Lego Minifigures for inhabitants and a lot of each world featured in the game had Lego pieces making up the worlds. You basically fought against an enemy called the Maelstrom consisting of things like creatures and Minifigures that were corrupted into darker versions of themselves. There were many different activities involved. You could smash enemies, build on your own properties, race against other players on racetracks, and other activities. There were 4 different factions to join and you received a specialty kit when you joined a faction. Collecting faction tokens by smashing enemies and earning faction token bags that were rewards for completing achievements was a major part of getting better gear. You used those tokens to buy higher rank gear in order to fight tougher enemies.**

**It was a major part of my childhood and I used to come home every day from school to play it on my computer. I loved it and it gave me a sense of comfort from the cruel kids that bullied me because of my disability. I struggled a lot because of it and Lego Universe made me happy and not sad from not being able to make a lot of friends in school. Unfortunately, it lasted for less than 2 years because not enough players were paying for the full game and they instead were playing in the Free-to-Play zone and its servers were shut down in January of 2012. I had lost my main coping mechanism that I used for the longest time and it was heartbreaking. I remember tearing up and crying my heart out when I saw the video that Lego released detailing the game's journey up until its closure.**

**However, sometime in the last year I discovered that there was a big project going on that was trying to recreate the game and make it just like it was when it was live. The project was a server emulator called Darkflame Universe. It has been in the works for quite a bit of time and (although I am not sure about this one part) is in between the Alpha and Beta phases. This made me extremely happy that a game that I loved so dearly was coming back into reality. I suggest you check out both Lego Universe and Darkflame Universe. There is a series of walkthrough gameplay videos that go through all the missions in the original game on Youtube and if you watch the videos, they can give a better picture of what the game looked like when it was still running.  
**

**Alright, on with the show.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

When Bennett woke up from passing out, he was in an area filled with grass and trees situated in between two mountain ranges. He held his head and groaned. "What the hell hit me so hard? Last thing I remember was a rush of power entering my body, then we killed that creature." He sat up and looked around. "Not bad. It's quiet here, but where am I?"

The false delinquent walked around for a bit, looking for anyone to tell him where he was currently at. Just when he was about to give up, a voice interrupted his thoughts. _**"Well, look who finally decided to wake up and grace us with his presence."**_ He whirled around in shock, his eyes coming into contact with two figures a few yards away from him. The Western enthusiast narrowed his eyes at them, suspicious of who they were, but yet at the same time oddly calm while having the strange feeling that he knew these two people..

The first person was a tanned young adult male dressed in an outfit that was considered to be punk. His red hair was styled into a mohawk and he had a few metal nuts and bolts for facial piercings. Combat boots adorned his feet while black leather pants covered his legs with a studded belt holding them up. A leather jacket with the sleeves cut off was his top and fingerless gloves finished off the attire.

To his left was a teenage male whose attire was only the lower body portion of a normal Soul Reaper uniform. His upper body was bare and muscled with pale skin, which looked bleached now that Bennett thought about it, and sported tattoos on his arms and torso which reached up to his neck and his hair, just like his counterpart, was also cut into a mohawk, except this person's hair was white and dyed in the same spots the exact color as Bennett's hair. He looked eerily similar to Bennett in that their faces were the same, but the eyes were different, they were gold and black instead of the blue of his own eyes.

The red haired male snorted. _"Calm down, it's not like he had a choice in the matter. If Isshin was waiting to tell him and his siblings about their unique heritage, then now might be the best time to do so because they just got drawn into a whole new world and they will need all their strength to defeat that manipulative bastard,"_ He looked at the teen he was talking about. _"You are probably wondering who we are, you'll find out soon enough."_

"Hey, wait!" That was not the answer Bennett was expecting from them. And why did one of the two people look like him?

_**"Kid, don't worry, we'll still be here. This is your Inner World after all. And in the meantime, go talk to that hot chick that's in here with you. I think you'll like her."**_ said his lookalike. They disappeared into thin air, leaving a tingling running down his spine.

Bennett groaned. "Wait... there's someone else here with me?! Absolutely terrific."

He decided to sit back down and wait for the unknown person to make their way to him, laying down in the grass and folding his arms behind his head, just staring at the scenery before him.

* * *

"Where am I? This is not Los Noches or Hueco Mundo, so what is this place?" said a beautiful blonde woman in her teens with tanned skin and clothed in white robes who was wandering around the area. The woman remembered falling asleep in her palace, then she woke up here. She wondered where the other Espada were and if this was some illusion created by the man her fellow Arrancar followed. She did not dare call him her leader because she did not trust him nor would she ever. She knew that he was power hungry and extremely powerful as well as manipulative and was using her species as disposable tools, not invaluable comrades. The man may have given the woman and her subordinates power to protect themselves, but they were trying to find a way to get out from under his thumb.

She remembered hearing stories about her predecessor, the one that was attacked and betrayed by another Espada, subsequently disappearing after the attack and was never heard from again, with no discipline being handed down to the offending party. She also suspected that _he_ may have had given the go-ahead because the former Espada did not like to fight without a solid reason.

Her mind traveled back to the issue at hand: where she was at the moment. It was quite nice and peaceful, nothing like Hueco Mundo where everything was centered around fighting, killing, and devouring others. But was there anyone else here? It didn't seem like it.

The woman was shaken out of her thoughts as she heard a groan from up ahead. She looked up and saw a teenage male laying in the grass. Taking a closer look, she saw he had multiple different colors in his hair, which was styled somewhat similar to Zommari's mask fragment, except it was much larger and made of actual hair. He was dressed in mostly black and gold clothes, covering his toned physique. When she took a closer look at his face, her cheeks began to flush, not that anyone could tell from under her jacket. He was very handsome, more so than anyone else she had met. She decided to speak up to get his attention. "Hello?"

The boy shot up, eyes looking around wildly in surprise. She had startled him a little bit. Once he saw her, he began to calm down. He looked closer and the uncovered portion of her face showed itself to him. Just like the woman had when she saw him, his own face began to heat up. He whispered, "Beautiful." The girl heard him though and blushed even more from the compliment.

'What is it about this boy that draws me in so much?' she wondered, wanting to know more about the boy in front of her.

"Uh, hi. I'm Benetto Kurosaki, but my family and friends call me Bennett. Who are you?" Bennett asked.

"I'm Tia Halibel. Do you know where we are?" replied Tia, asking a question in turn.

"There were two guys who disappeared earlier, one of them said it was my Inner World. The other said something else about my 'unique heritage.' Don't know what that means though."

"You're a Soul Reaper?" This alarmed her, but the "unique heritage" part caught her attention.

Bennett shook his head. "You mean like that girl in black robes who tried fighting that Hollow who was after my family last night? No, I'm human, have been all my life."

"But how can you have an Inner World if you're not a Soul Reaper?" It made Tia wonder if _he_ knew of these boys. The busty blonde girl did not want for Bennett to get hunted by her allies because it would mean certain death for him and she wanted to know more about him.

Bennett told her he did not know and explained to Tia what exactly had happened the day before, from the encounter in the city to him and his brothers purifying the Hollow during the night. She listened and was astonished at what he did to save his family. It hit close to home for her because her subordinates would put their lives on the line to protect her and her philosophy in life was tied to sacrifice. 'He tried to attack a Hollow, knowing that he might be killed and he did it anyway, all to save his younger sibling. He truly cares for his family.'

Unknown to her, or maybe she was aware of it, but didn't understand or realize it, she was beginning to develop a soft spot, possibly even feelings, for the raven-haired teen. When she asked about his family and what they were like and he described his twin brothers with enthusiasm as well as their younger siblings with a certain fondness (especially Karin, Tia's intuition told her he was just as close with her as his brothers, if not closer), it began to grow.

On the other hand, the owner of the Inner World was ecstatic. He was finally talking to a girl, an extremely gorgeous one too, he could approach without problems. He didn't know it, but he and his brothers were highly sought after by the female population of the high school. He didn't have time for a relationship, plus he wasn't interested in any girls at the moment. His lifestyle sometimes drove them off and if they could not take the time to understand him and his choices, he had no time for them anyway. But this girl, she was not afraid of him and she seemed genuinely interested in talking to him and wanting to know him better. Oh, he was definitely crushing on her big time.

They continued talking and the two became fast friends. Both felt comfort and happiness with each other, something that Tia had not known in her life and Bennett had not felt with the opposite gender. However, the moment was not to last.

Bennett felt a hand on each shoulder, each hand belonging to two different people. He turned and saw the two young adults he met earlier.

_**"Bennett, you need to wake up. You can talk to your girlfriend some other time. Tia'll be here again. You two are connected in more ways than you can imagine."**_ his carbon copy slyly said, finishing off his statement with a phrase that sounded like he knew something they didn't. The tanned blonde and punk both went fire engine red in the face at the look-a-like's words. That changed to looks of hopefulness when they heard the pale teen's words about seeing each other again.

"Okay, I will see you again, Tia."

"As will I, Bennett."

* * *

"So Nelliel, what's with the skull on your head? It's not a fashion statement, is it? Because that would be one bizarre hat." said a confused Randii Kurosaki. He was currently talking to a good looking teal-haired woman in the middle of a set of ruins that looked to be quite ancient. If one took a long look at them, they would look somewhat similar to ancient ruins in Greece, but Randy did not have time to dwell on that fact. He was currently focusing on the female talking to him.

The girl was hot to say the least. She had long flowing aquamarine hair that went down her back and he took note of the tattoo-like mark crossing her nose and cheeks. She possessed a set of long creamy legs which seemed to go on forever, but no footwear covering her feet. Her clothes consisted of a strip of green fabric which somewhat covered her well endowed chest which had another fabric strip covering her pelvic region connected to it by yet another strip, except this one was string like and stretched across her stomach. What caught the teenager's attention was a cracked ram's skull sitting atop her head like it was part of her anatomy. It was weird, yet oddly suitable for her at the same time, like it was a representation of herself.

The female, who had earlier introduced herself as Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, giggled at his comment. "I guess it would be weird if it was a hat. And just call me Nel, if you want. To answer your question, it's my mask fragment."

Okay, that was different. "Mask fragment, as in previously part of a mask?"

"Yes, silly," Nel said, giggling more. "It's what remains of my mask when I was a..." she trailed off at the end, looking sad when remembering the memories of what she previously was before changing into her current state of evolution. Randy did not mean to upset her, but from the depressed look on her face, he unintentionally did so. He felt like a colossal jerk, he'd made a girl sad.

He shifted back and forth on his feet. "Hey, you don't have to tell me if it makes you upset. I don't want you to cry." Randy moved forward and did something that surprised Nel. He hugged her, wrapping his muscled arms around her and rubbing her back soothingly.

Nel was shocked at first, but melted into the warm embrace like butter. He felt quite warm, something she usually didn't feel in the cold everlasting night of Hueco Mundo. She tilted her head toward him and sighed in content. This was nice. She could stay like this forever and not have a care in the world.

Randy said, "Do you feel better now?" She nodded and pulled away a little bit. She didn't want to, but if she continued to stay like that with him, she would not learn anything about him.

Nel asked him about his life and what it was like. The teen told her about how he was close with his brothers and Yuzu, he talked about their complete idiot of a patriarch and how he acted like a man-baby every time the brothers came home from school, attacking them at the worst times of the day, trying to dropkick his ginger brother in the morning when he woke up, jumping on his mohawk-sporting brother from the second floor when he would leave to go somewhere, and attempting to tackle Randy while he was around the house. She learned from Randy that Isshin would try and switch it up a lot to keep them off guard, but most of the time it did not work. Nel laughed at his antics and she could definitely see Pesche and Dondochakka getting along with Isshin.

Then he asked her about her life and she gave enough detail and truth so that he would not ask any further about her past, seeing as she didn't want Randy to know of her past association with the Arrancar forces. It was a dark mark on her past and one she hated and was not proud of. He didn't pry any further, much to her relief. Nel didn't know if she could handle the rejection if Randy found out what she was and wanted nothing to do with her. He was one of the few people she felt at ease around, the others being her Fraccion, and the busty Arrancar did not want to lose that or his friendship.

They sat down in a grass patch away from the ruins and discussed their interests. She learned that he was a huge rock fanatic and listened to bands that were considered nu metal and so did his brothers. From her vast knowledge (which was required by their leader to know if they had to go to the human world for reconnaissance purposes to blend in with the humans), rock music was usually created by guitars and drums and had a vast culture surrounding it. On top of that, Nel found out all of them had a rabid obsession with video games and it sometimes caused fights between the brothers when conflicts happened while playing games. She giggled at the names they called each other as they were quite hilarious.

Randy, to his surprise, learned that she liked rock as well and also alternative, but she couldn't stand country musicand was an avid reader in her spare time. He didn't think Nel would be into that type of music, he figured she would be into pop, a genre which he believed had majorly gone down in quality since the start of the early 2010's, and he also didn't peg her to be studious.

Without warning, her form started fading away. "Nel, what's happening to you?!"

_"She's just waking up. There's no need to panic."_ said a voice belonging to a man who was familiar to Randy. He had talked with him and a second person earlier when he had awakened in the ruins. The man tried to tell the teen their name, but Randy could not understand him when he spoke.

"Oh. Well, Nel, will I get to see you again?" said Randy. He was really hoping she would say yes. Randy had felt this pang of anxiousness in his chest when he thought she would be leaving and never see him again. He thought it was nothing, though he had a sneaking suspicion in the back of his head he knew it wasn't.

The girl smiled. "I think so, just don't forget about me when you wake up, okay?" Her body was becoming more and more transparent as she spoke.

"Forget about someone as gorgeous as you? That won't happen."

She widened her eyes and reddened visibly just as she disappeared.

Randy sighed, then turned to face the man who had spoken. To his surprise, both people he had spoken to earlier were there. He looked at them with a critical eye, when he met they did not seem hostile, but he did not know who they were. They felt like aspects of something, but he couldn't figure out what they were part of. Oh well, he had time to find out later.

The man that had spoken earlier to Randy was tall and had long blond hair and peach-colored skin. He was wearing a nice shirt with the buttons done up and a gray knee-length trench coat that was open and had the collar upturned. Tan slacks adorned his legs and a pair of heeled boots were on his feet. He looked like a private investigator that was staking out a place in their car or a business man that had just come back from a day at the office.

The person next to the blond man, however, looked nothing like the man at all. In all honesty, he could be compared to the spiky haired teen himself, albeit a more hardcore version who had the same appearance. He had white hair in a spiky quiff and had a very similar look to the albino in Bennett's Inner World, except the upper half of the Soul Reaper robes were replaced with a zippered-up biker jacket that fit snugly on his upper body.

All three males stood there quietly, contemplating what to say to each other. A handful of seconds passed before Randy decided to break the ominous silence.

"So, are you two going to tell me how Nel appeared in this place?" he asked the two men standing in front of him. The duplicate snickered, clearly signaling to Randy that he knew what was going on.

_**"Well, Randy, that hot chick with the huge rack is special. Because she was able to enter in your Inner World, that means she is soul-bonded to you and I'm sure at least one of your brothers has a bond with another woman like her. It might be Ichigo, it might be Bennett, or it could be both. But your case is special as is theirs. Because of her species and your heritage, you are basically mates. I suspect it is the same with at least one of the other two."**_ said the albino copy.

Randy was freaking out. It sounded like he was married to her. It didn't seem so bad, he really liked Nel, but at the same time he was only 15 and so were his brothers. They were too young to get into this. "Oh boy, so I'm basically married to her?"

The other man said, _"No, you're just meant to end up together. I guess a more appropriate term would be soulmates. Anyway, you should really wake up now. Talk to your brothers about what happened last night, and maybe talk to your father about this. He knows more than he lets on, seeing as he and your mother are responsible for you having dormant spiritual powers in the first place."_

* * *

Ichigo was weirded out. He was talking to a bleached copy of himself with gold and black eyes and in a reverse-colored Soul Reaper uniform and an older long haired, bearded, sunglasses-wearing man in a coat and he was standing in a sideways city on the side of a building. Did this have something to do with that midget girl that appeared last night? If it did, she was going to have to explain more about Soul Reapers and Hollows and whatever she got him, Randy, and Bennett into.

What made the situation more freaky was that the orange-haired teen felt connected to these two beings on a spiritual level. 'I don't know why there is a connection between myself and them, but I need to find out.' he thought, stopping his pondering and the current conversation to ask the two who exactly they were. The answer surprised him.

**_"Hehe... we're your Zanpakuto spirits, King. We're basically a representation of your soul. Face it, King, we _are_ you!"_**

Ichigo shouted back, "Huh? That... makes no damn sense!"

His bleached twin crossed his arms. _**"Humph...**** figures you wouldn't know shit. Alright, old man, you wanna take over?"**_ He gestured to the man, hoping the other spirit would do a better job of explaining to this kid.

_"Ichigo, did Rukia not explain what a Zanpakuto does or what it is?"_

The ginger stopped for a minute at the question to think. "She did, but never gave much detail other than it purifies hollows. There's something special about them, isn't there?"

_"Indeed, you picked up quickly on that. Zanpakutos are essentially weapons that are reflections of a Soul Reaper's soul. All Soul Reapers start off with a nameless Zanpakuto called Asauchi and there are two stages of power advancement for a Zanpakuto: Shikai, and Bankai. Shikai is the first stage. A Soul Reaper has to learn their Zanpakuto's name and release command to gain that level of power. It's generally known by seated officers and the lieutenants and captains of the 13 Court Guard Squads. The shape of the first stage is influenced by the Soul Reaper's daily life. Everything they do decides what shape their weapon will take when achieved. The final level of power is Bankai. Very few Soul Reapers have ever achieved this power, meaning the captains have it as well as a select few lieutenants. This stage can take years to achieve, simply because the wielder has to know and learn everything about and converse endlessly with their Zanpakuto spirit. It is a great increase of power for the wielder, for it is the epitome of their strength."_

Ichigo wanted to know more but the older male quickly said, _"In time, we will teach you more about your power. Promise us you won't do anything stupid to get yourself killed in the meantime."_

He nodded. Both spirits were relieved. Now they could get to a more important topic: Ichigo and his brothers' unique heritage. The spirits told them he was a human and yet at the same time a naturally-born hybrid between a Soul Reaper, Hollow, and a third spiritual faction, which the old man promised he would reveal the faction when the brothers met someone else in Karakura Town who was a part of it or when his father would explain how exactly they came to be. Ichigo was pissed. His father not only wouldn't stop being immature, but now it was apparent Isshin was hiding secrets from them about his past and their mother. He'd figured out from the words his spirits said that the Kurosaki matriarch was somehow part of this as well, because to be a hybrid, he'd have to have been born from two different species, but the strawberry blond didn't know how involved Masaki was.

His anger was interrupted by the old man clearing his throat. _"Now's not the time to be mad, Ichigo. Yes, he should have told you sooner before you got dragged into the supernatural world, but what's done is done. You need to wake up. After the attack last night, your entire life, along with your brothers' as well, will change forever. We'll talk later."_

* * *

It was morning and the sun was rising on the town. The Kurosaki family was still sleeping in their beds, seemingly unaware of the attack on their residence last night and slowly but surely, the town was waking up for a new day...

"GOOD MORNING, BENNETT!" Three guesses to who that was?

Isshin came flying in from the window in the raven-haired boy's room, attempting to tackle him, but Bennett quickly jumped out of bed and speared his father, flattening the man on the floor like a pancake.

"Damn it, you old geezer! For once, could you not do that to us?" yelled the teen, pissed that his stupid dad decided to do this shit again.

His father managed to croak out, "You're learning, my son... not much more to teach you... gah, you hit like a freight train!" He started groaning in pain. He was definitely going to feel that one later. 'Damn, he's strong, he has been for some time now. Looks like his hollow side and Soul Reaper side are starting to show for Bennett... and I suspect it's the same with Randy and Ichigo.'

The tallest member of the family glared at the prickly-faced moron. "I should hope that hitting you that hard would teach you a lesson, but knowing you, you would just keep on with your antics," He then remembered what he talked about with his Zanpakuto spirits. "I don't have time for this. I need to talk to the others." He opened the door and walked down the hall to Ichigo's door. He knocked on it, hoping that the ginger was up or at least heard him knocking.

Ichigo opened the door, expecting Yuzu to be calling him down for breakfast, but finding Bennett instead. "What is it?

Bennett looked around quickly as if he was afraid of there being a possibility someone was watching them. "I have two people inside my mind. I'm going to take a wild guess here and say you have something similar. Am I right?"

Ichigo widened his eyes. He'd thought last night and who he talked to in his mind was all part of a crazy dream, but seeing as that his brother was confirming that it wasn't, he nodded and looked toward Randy's room. Bennett followed his gaze and looked at the same area. He motioned Ichigo to follow him and they moved in front of their sibling's door.

Cue the dumb blond joke. "Yo, Randy! Get your dumb blond ass out of bed! We got something to discuss, all of us."

Angry footsteps could be here coming toward the door and the door swung open. In the doorway stood the glaring teen who immediately growled, "Why don't you say that again? Go ahead, say what you just said again."

"Easy, bro. That was just to get you up, now come on, we need to talk about last night." They all walked inside Randy's room and shut the door. The boys began discussing what they could recall about the previous evening's incident, in addition to who they talked to in their respective Inner Worlds.

As the orangette told his siblings about the spirits encountered and their conversation, Bennett and Randy realized something. Isshin was hiding something major from them about his past and himself and each of them having two Zanpakuto spirits was no coincidence. Not only that, but the fact that one of their spirits in each of their minds were similar to each other meant there was a connection between all of them, and taking into account what Ichigo's spirit said, that the siblings were special because of their hybrid nature. They made an agreement between each other to confront their father and force him to reveal everything.

When Ichigo heard about the hot women that appeared in his brothers' minds, he started teasing them. However, it came to a head when he poked fun about the two having a crush on their respective guests.

Ichigo snickered, "Do big, bad Benetto and tough as nails Randii have crushes on their female guests?"

They both yelled at the same time, "DAMN RIGHT I DO!" Both of the false delinquents calmed down after that.

"Woah, really?" Ichigo was shocked. He knew they weren't attracted to any girls at school, but to hear that both had a crush on girls they just met threw him for a loop.

"Sorry about that, bro, but Tia is someone special. She doesn't look at me in disgust at my lifestyle and she's not afraid of me. She's drop-dead gorgeous, I feel at ease around her, and it feels like we're meant for each other in a special way."

Randy looked thoughtful at the last part in Bennett's sentence. "I might have an answer for that. My spirits told me that, due to our hybrid nature and Nel's species, we have a soul-bond and it's sort of like we are soulmates. It sounds like Tia is the same species as Nel and you two share a soul-bond and are soulmates as well. Anyway, I feel the same about Nel and I'm not going to doubt my spirits' words. They're reflections of my soul and have no reason to lie to me. If they did, it'd be like lying to myself."

Ichigo was immediately remorseful about teasing his brothers. He was always close with them and did not want to lose that. "If that's the case, then who's my soulmate? Why did I only meet my Zanpakuto spirits?"

"I think since you didn't meet someone of Tia and Nel's species, it must be different for you. You might not be able to meet her in your Inner World, but something tells me you will meet her soon."

"Okay, I'll trust you on that. Now let's go talk with dear old Dad about what exactly we are."

"Agreed."

"Ditto."

* * *

The brothers got dressed and went downstairs, where Yuzu had already prepared breakfast. After eating and waiting for her and Karin to leave for school, they cornered Isshin, who was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning newspaper. Surrounding him on all sides, Ichigo cleared his throat.

Their father looked up at them. "What can I do for you, my wonderful sons?"

They looked at each other, then back at him. "Cut the crap, old man. We need to talk."

Isshin knew he was not going to like this from the look on their faces. Pure fury could be seen, barely restrained and ready to be let out at a moment's notice. He weakly asked, "About what?"

"About you being a Soul Reaper, Mom being part of a spiritual faction, and us being naturally human-born hybrids of three different species."

The grizzled man froze. "Who told you that?"

"Our Zanpakuto spirits. We want answers, dad. Who or what are we?"

Isshin slammed his head on the table. "God damn it."

* * *

**What do you guys think so far? Please review, and don't flame me. I do not appreciate it. I already had one guest be a complete jerk and flame without reason. Don't be like them and try to make me feel bad.**

**However, if you want to try to help me improve this story, leave constructive criticism or tell me what I did well.**

**Still looking for people that would like to help me with this story or be a co-author. It would really help me big time and give me a second viewpoint.**

**On a happy note... HELL YEAH, BLEACH IS COMING BACK!**

**That being said, I'm still only doing the original run of the anime. Maybe in time when the final season comes out and if I watch it (I have heard that the Thousand Year Blood War arc ended up being not that good and a bit of a disappointment, even though I have not read the manga. I mean, really, Kubo? You have our favorite badass Substitute Soul Reaper marry the one girl who basically did nothing the entire series and you could not find him a better girlfriend/wife? Yoruichi showed him her nude body continuously, in which I still believe to this very day that it was to get him to take an interest in her, Tia had a philosophy and aspect of death which she could relate to Ichigo better than probably anyone else in the series ever could because he would fight to protect the ones he cared for, and Kubo definitely could have had them meet each other and be attracted to one another, and Nel became a good friend of Ichigo's and it is painfully obvious she cares a lot for him), I might do write a version of it, but that's a long ways off.**

**Crash, out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**What's up, guys? So I will actually be killing off Yhwach because I have made an executive decision to not do the Blood War Arc. The way I will kill him off will make sense if you have read the part of the manga where Isshin and Masaki's backstory were explained.**

**Also, I hope everyone is staying safe during this crisis. Don't do anything unsafe that will get you sick. We all want to be healthy and alive. So stay safe, people.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

The boys told him what happened last night and what they experienced in their Inner Worlds as well as the women Randy and Bennett interacted with. Isshin looked surprised when Randy told him Nel had a mask fragment sitting on her head, but offered some fatherly advice about Nel and Tia to him and Bennett, basically telling him to accept them for who they were if they had feelings for them. Then he dropped a bombshell on the boys. And were they ever shocked.

According to their father, he was the former captain of Squad 10 and his name before coming to the World of the Living was Isshin Shiba of the Shiba clan, they had cousins and family in the Soul Society as well as in Karakura Town, their mother was a Quincy, a spiritual aware human who had powers that destroyed hollows instead of purified them, who was infected by a extremely powerful hollow which was passed on to all of them by the hollow being split up between them when the boys were born, resulting in them gaining hollow powers, and they were naturally-born hybrids of all three spiritual factions, which confirmed what their Zanpakuto spirits had said. The man had also told them the backstory behind how he left the Soul Society which involved a treacherous captain named Sosuke Aizen and his experiments on other captains and lieutenants as well as the Hollow that became part of his sons' Zanpakutos.

However, at the same time, they were also livid. Isshin had never thought to tell them anything in case they were attacked growing up. Unfortunately, he dropped a bombshell on them that Aizen was partly the reason why Masaki was dead.

He revealed to Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett that the traitorous Soul Reaper had sent a Hollow named Grand Fisher after them when they were younger, but seeing as they were all split up at the time, the Hollow went after Ichigo and their mother saved him by shielding him, but dying in the process.

Ichigo was confused about something. "If Mom had Quincy powers, then why did she not use them to protect herself and me?"

Isshin held up his hand in an effort to stop the boy from continuing. "There's a reason for that. You see, all Quincies hold a portion of the original Quincy's soul. and he is able to take it back to empower himself. While pure blooded Quincies only lose their powers, non-pure blooded Quincies die from the process. Yhwach, the first Quincy, was an extremely powerful man and first tried attacking the Soul Society a little less than 1000 years ago but was defeated. A Quincy legend was born from this, foretelling that he would take control of the world 1000 years later. Boys, when Ichigo and your mother were attacked by that Hollow, Yhwach stole her powers, leaving her defenseless. She died protecting you, Ichigo. If I had been mad at you for that, your mother would have been disappointed in me."

"But since we have Quincy blood, how is it that we survived Yhwach taking back his soul? Shouldn't we be dead too?"

"One of the captains that was banished from the Soul Society, Kisuke Urahara, a good friend of mine and an absolute genius, found proof why. He theorized that because you three were part Hollow, there was something about you that caused you to survive. Eventually, he figured out that Hollow spirit energy is essentially poison to Quincy, since he had actually seen it happen with your mother. It stopped Yhwach from killing you because it infected him and turned him into a hollow, essentially stopping the prophecy from coming true. Kisuke actually journeyed to the Quincy stronghold to see what had become of the Quincy forefather and found him as a Hollow and purified him. Since Yhwach committed many sins during his life, he was sent to Hell when purified. You technically got payback for your mother, so you don't need to worry about him."

The three brothers relaxed at their father's words. At least the man who killed their mother was dead and it gave Ichigo a sense of peace that she was avenged.

Randy murmured, "You know then that we unlocked our powers after siphoning spiritual energy from Rukia Kuchiki. And you probably figured out that we were fighting that Hollow last night."

"That's right, plus Kisuke was the one to help her with setting everything back to normal. You'll meet him at his shop, the Urahara Shop today after school. If what he told me about your reserves and pressure is correct, then you'll need help controlling and suppressing it. And you and Bennett should tell him about your soulmates since he will understand who they are and not judge them for it," Isshin said. "Also, don't tell Yuzu and Karin about this. I know you want them to always be safe, but they are too young to be dragged into this world. Maybe in time, or if they figure it out on their own, but not now." He looked at the clock. "Well, you three need to get going to class, you're going to be late."

They sighed and got up from the table which they were sitting at. All of them packed their bags and bid farewell to their crazy old man. The walk to school was silent. No one wanted to say anything because they were still reeling from the revelations Isshin had dropped on them.

When they reached the school, they steeled themselves to act like nothing had happened to shake their grasp on reality. They walked in side by side, nothing interrupting them. Bennett was the first to reach their group of friends standing in the hallway, followed by Ichigo, then Randy. Their circle of friends consisted of Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, Mizuiro Kojima, and of course, Keigo Asano.

The moron of the group, the short and highly perverted Keigo, started his usual routine of greeting the brothers, which was usually charging at them and yelling out their names. That is, before Bennett palmed the brown-haired idiot by his face while still running, holding him still until the wannabe ladies man stopped. The taller teenager sighed at his stupidity.

"Keigo, what have we talked about?"

Keigo paled and gained a nervous smile. "Not to do what I just tried to do to you three."

Bennett nodded and grinned wickedly. "That's correct. Are you going to do it again or are we going to have to do something about it, like clotheslining you to the ground?"

The offender whimpered. He knew what the Kurosaki brothers were legendary for: their inhuman strength (which, unknown to him and the others, was from their mixed heritage which enhanced their human body to awesome proportions), which they used to mercilessly beat up thugs and people who harassed them. The pervert did not want to be demolished by the human wrecking crew known as Benetto Kurosaki and got scared just thinking about it. He scampered to hide behind Mizuiro, who looked up from his phone in slight interest and moved away from Keigo.

"I told you to stop doing that, Mr. Asano."

"AAHHHH! Why are you not trying to hide me, you've left me to the wolves! I don't want to die! And stop calling me Mr. Asano!"

Randy laughed. Count on Keigo to be the comic relief they needed to bring their minds and worries away from their father's words.

Tatsuki asked, "Hey, did a truck or something hit your house last night? The side of your house looks kind of smashed up. Is your family okay?"

And back the worries came. Ichigo looked at her, then at his brothers. "Something... went down last night. The house can be fixed, but... we'll tell you later, Tatsuki." They walked into the classroom and sat down in their seats. Their teacher, Ms. Ochi, came in and did the roll call. She looked at her clipboard and made an announcement.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. You can come in now." In walked a face that was familiar to three particular students, prompting them to narrow their eyes at the new student.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Rukia Kuchiki. I hope we can get along." said the Kuchiki princess.

The thought that passed between Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy's heads was, 'What the hell is she doing here?'

Ms. Ochi set down her clipboard and got the lesson started, unaware of the tension between Rukia and the three Substitute Soul Reapers.

* * *

"Okay, why are you here? From what I understand, we did your job when we purified that Hollow last night, so you should not be here in our class at our school." growled the blond teen. After class, they had pulled Rukia aside into an unpopulated area, demanding some answers from her.

The Soul Reaper sighed. "I no longer have my powers, which means I cannot return to Soul Society. When you gained Soul Reaper powers, you took away mine. So you three have to do my job for the time being until I get them back."

Ichigo groaned. This just became more complicated. Plus, they disagreed with what she said. "Okay, two things. First, we never stole your powers and according to a trustworthy source, your spiritual energy unlocked our latent Soul Reaper abilities. And second, just how could everyone in the class see you? Last time I checked, you were a spirit!"

Rukia started to explain. "I'm in a gigai, it allows Soul Reapers to be seen by normal humans— wait, did you just say that you had dormant Soul Reaper abilities?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Well... how?"

Bennett said, "We did not ask to be sucked into your world and apparently we were already part of it before we were even born. Let's just say we are a special case and leave it at that, alright? Anyway, how are we supposed to do your job, we don't know how to get into spirit forms." If they were to do her job, then how were they supposed to do it in their human bodies.

Fortunately, Rukia had a solution for that. She pulled a fingerless glove and smacked all three of them in the gut, pushing their soul forms out of their bodies. The three tumbled out of their human bodies and fell backward. "This glove enables me to push your soul form into the real world. Anytime you need to fight a Hollow, I just need to hit you with it and you can do my job without normal people seeing you. And if you guys don't do it, do you really want all those Hollows devouring people on your conscience, giving you massive guilt from them dying?"

'I do not think I would be able to handle that on my conscience.' thought Bennett. "Okay, I guess we'll do your job, when we are not going about our daily lives, got that?"

"As long as you help me do my job, that's fine."

They went back to class after the conversation. The day went on as normal for the brothers. During a break in between classes, Ichigo asked his brothers if they should tell Tatsuki everything that had happened, including the spiritual side of it. Randy responded, saying that if they told her, they should also tell Chad, seeing as that he had fought and bled with them, making them brothers-in-arms and he deserved to know something like this. Randy knew that Chad would be able to keep a secret and most likely Tatsuki could as well, seeing as that she was the ginger's oldest friend. His brothers agreed to that and decided to tell them.

However, they decided not to tell Orihime, Keigo, or Mizuiro because Orihime was somewhat of a ditz and had too much of a good heart to handle it and they thought she probably would not be able to handle all the deaths. Keigo? Definitely not, the reason being he would not take it seriously and think they were secretly hanging out without him and he was very foolish and moronic. Mizuiro, it was a toss-up because while he was a lot more mature than most of their classmates, Bennett felt that he might lose his grasp on reality since Mizuiro was very down-to-Earth and could freak out at hearing there was an entirely different realm connected with their planet.

Lunchtime came and they asked Chad and Tatsuki to talk with them in a quiet area. They explained to them what they had experienced as well as what their father had told them this morning. The look on the spiky-haired girl's face was incredulous. Chad, on the other hand, maintained his calm demeanor the entire time. When they were finished talking to them, Tatsuki said what she thought about this revelation.

She breathed in deeply. "I know that you guys can see dead people, but Soul Reapers? Hollows? You three being hybrids of three different species while still being human at the same time? It's kind of farfetched. I'm not saying I don't believe you but I need to see concrete proof with my own eyes."

"I believe them. Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy have never led me astray and they would never lie to me." rumbled the giant teen. Chad had been one of their closer friends since middle school who, just like Bennett, Ichigo, and Randy, was a target for thugs and wannabe gangsters because of his looks. His dark skin and enormous height, being an inch taller than Bennett, came from his Japanese-Mexican parents and it stood out, leading for said thugs and wannabe gangsters to try picking fights with him.

Tatsuki, unfortunately, disagreed. "Look, I want to believe you three's story, but it sounds crazy."

Ichigo said, "You two are the only people we can trust to keep this a secret and I know you wouldn't want us to keep things from you. This is us trusting you because you two are some of our closest friends." This was a little frustrating, but he understood where his oldest friend was coming from. She needed to see it with her own eyes to acknowledge that what they told her was true.

Tatsuki sighed. "Yeah, I know," She got up from the table. "Look, I'm heading back to class. I'll see you later."

Chad left for class a couple minutes later, followed by the Kurosaki brothers when the lunch bell rang. Class went by slowly the rest of the day and the boys waited impatiently for the final bell to ring. It did and the boys walked out of the building and moved quickly toward the shopping district in Karakura Town where the shop was. It was not that far from the house and they reached it within a short amount of time.

When they reached the shop, they were surprised at its appearance. The Urahara Shop was quite small, wedged in between two larger buildings on a small plot of land. And it looked like something out of the feudal era of ancient Japan. Needless to say, Ichigo wasn't impressed while Bennett thought it looked stupid and Randy already wanted to smack Urahara before he had even meet the man simply for choosing a design that was centuries out of date.

Bennett pulled open the doors and they walked inside. "Hello? Isshin Kurosaki told us to see someone named Kisuke Urahara here." He looked at his brothers and shrugged. If this was a Soul Reaper product outlet, then where were the employees?

A voice said, "Well, this is a nice surprise. Isshin's boys finally unlocking their powers and jumping into the world of the supernatural? Can't say I didn't expect it to happen," The man Rukia had talked to from the night she met them walked into the front of the store and greeted them and a large mustached, dark skinned man wearing glasses, simple clothes, and an apron entered beside him. "Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Kisuke Urahara and that is my associate, Tessai Tsukabishi."

The man next to Kisuke said, "Hello, it is a pleasure to finally meet Isshin's eldest children. Boss, shall I get Lady Shihoin from her room?"

"Yes, go get her please."

A feminine voice purred, "There's no need, Tessai." Ichigo widened his eyes when a drop-dead gorgeous woman that looked to be in her early twenties came to the front. She had cocoa skin, golden eyes, and long dark purple hair tied back in a ponytail. Her clothes were black leggings on her shapely legs, an orange jacket around her upper body, which concealed her impressive bust but still flaunted it, and brown shoes. The woman looked like a goddess in his opinion.

"Hello. You three must be Benetto, Ichigo, and Randii."

The strawberry thought, 'Oh man, is she beautiful!' "The blond is Randii, he usually goes by Randy, the mohawk-wearing guy is Benetto, just call him Bennett, and I'm Ichigo." he said.

The woman gained a saucy smirk. "I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. I'm a old friend of Kisuke's." 'So they are the famous Kurosaki brothers. I'll definitely get a kick out of teasing them, especially Ichigo. I wonder how he would react to seeing a naked woman for the first time?' wondered Yoruichi, definitely wanting to get some blushing out of them.

The shady shopkeeper interrupted. "So, your father told you to come here, right? Funny you should mention that, I already knew of the incident last night. I'm the one who helped Rukia Kuchiki get a gigai as well as remove your sisters' memories of the event."

"I'm not sure what to say about that," the blond said. "But at least they're not going to have nightmares, especially Yuzu. I worry about her safety because she's way too innocent to be dragged into our problems. For someone of her age, I don't want her experiencing danger like this. God knows she worries about us all day. It's high time we worried about her and Karin."

Bennett said, "Anyway, Randy and I each met someone in our Inner World that was not one of our Zanpakuto spirits. Randy's spirits told him the teenager he met, she is his soulmate and she had a mask fragment on top of her head and we suspect it's the same for me and the girl I met in my Inner World."

Kisuke and Yoruichi froze. Mask fragment? Oh boy...

The tallest Kurosaki was shocked. "You know something, don't you? Damn it, tell us! I don't need more secrets being kept from me!"

Urahara sighed. "Yeah, we do. But you need to understand, will you two judge them solely because of their species?

"Hell no! We don't judge someone just because of something like that. We judge someone based on their actions."

"That's good to know. We'll tell you but not right now."

The boys asked Urahara if he or Yoruichi could train them, seeing as Isshin told them the three adults were former Soul Reaper captains. He agreed and moved down to his underground training area and they sorted out the details after showing them the area.

"Alright, so since you will be training here after Rukia brings you up to speed with her training you a little bit or gains her powers back, Yoruichi will be your mentor along with me. She will be training you most of the time, teaching you Soul Reaper techniques and trying to help you three unlock your Shikai."

"Oh, I can teach them so much more than that, especially Ichigo, in, shall we say, 'other' areas. We can have some other types of training if you want." the woman said, gaining a seductive smirk and a half-lidded gaze and waggling her eyebrows suggestively, mostly at the strawberry.

His pale Zanpakuto spirit cackled inside his mind. _**"Hahahaha! Looks like you met the Queen, King. And she's a tease, that is priceless!"**_

Ichigo blushed and shouted, "Not that kind of training!" Oh great, this woman was a huge tease. Who knew what she would poke fun of him about!

Yoruichi burst out laughing. "Thinking dirty thoughts, are we, berry?" He blushed even more than before.

"Okay, why don't you boys get going on home, it's getting late and you probably got homework you have to finish." chuckled Kisuke.

They bid farewell to Yoruichi, Kisuke, and Tessai and walked out the door. Soon as they were out of earshot, Randy and Bennett began laughing.

"Oh man! Yoruichi was eyeing you, dude! I cannot believe she started flirting with/teasing you! Haha!" snickered Bennett.

"I think she likes you, Ichigo. Women don't usually flirt with or tease you, man." Randy said.

Their brother blushed. "I mean, she is beautiful and... I kinda like her too." He smiled, Yoruichi was a hell of a woman, even if she teased him. Somehow he figured that was what she normally did and thought it just added to her charm.

"See? Take a chance with her, you need someone in your life, you closed yourself off from women ever since Mom died. Who knows, she might be the one who's made for you."

Ichigo said, "My identical Zanpakuto spirit called her 'the Queen' and me 'King'. You think that means she's my soulmate?"

Both of them grinned. "I think your spirit knows what your heart wants. Looks like you got a crush on Yoruichi." said Bennett.

Ichigo gained a goofy grin. "I do, don't I?"

* * *

The shady businessman known as Kisuke Urahara chuckled to himself as he walked back into the shop. It looked as if his oldest friends had taken a liking to the orange-haired Kurosaki boy. And he could tell Ichigo had developed a crush on Yoruichi as well. "It seems that Randy and Bennett might just unite the Arrancars and Soul Reapers together if possible, if what they told me was true. An Arrancar as a soulmate, it must be because of their hollow side."

His fellow ex-captain said, "Maybe their two Arrancar soulmates will come here from Hueco Mundo to finally meet and be with them."

"Maybe. And don't think I don't see you avoid talking about Ichigo, I saw him widen his eyes when he saw you. He likes you, I know that for a fact!"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Kisuke. He's cute, sure, but he was just surprised at seeing a beautiful woman like me. I mean, I'm older than him by quite a bit, he would be more interested in human girls his age." chided Yoruichi.

Urahara smirked 'Don't be surprised if he turns out to be more to you than you think, Yoruichi. I've known you for years, you're fascinated with him, I can tell. If my hypothesis is correct, Ichigo also has a soulmate as well and I'd bet my shop that it's you, my friend.' "Alright, alright, whatever you say."

* * *

Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett were each walking and listening to some music by LINKIN PARK, Powerman 5000, and Hollywood Undead respectively on their phones when they bumped into Rukia walking from another direction, knocking her to the street. She got up and was about to spout off a rant when she saw it was the boys, who pulled out their headphones and apologized to her.

She shook her head at their carelessness and said, "Next time, just pay attention to your surroundings. Anyways, where did you three go off to?"

"The Urahara Shop." stated Ichigo.

"What?! Why?" exclaimed the Kuchiki princess. How did they know about that place?

"Remember our trustworthy source? They told us to meet the people who were there." Bennett said.

"At this point I'm not even going to begin to ask who or why." Out of the corner of her eye, the short Soul Reaper saw a curvy, auburn-haired girl walking down the road farther along. She was familiar to her, but didn't know from where.

She asked, "Who's that girl with the auburn hair and large chest? I know her from somewhere, do you?"

They all facepalmed. "Jeez, you really don't remember her? That's one of our classmates, Orihime Inoue, why do you ask?" droned Bennett, really not wanting to listen to her questions any longer.

"Do you see what's on her leg? That mark?" She motioned to Orihime's limb. They took a look and were confused at what they saw.

True enough, there was a mark on her leg, one that looked ominous and reminiscent of a clawed hand. It was dark and wrapped around her calf, looking as though someone had grabbed it and yanked.

"Yeah, what about it?" questioned Randy.

"Does Orihime have any relatives or family?"

Ichigo gained a solemn look on his face when she asked the question. "She used to live with her older brother, Sora. Unfortunately, he was hurt badly in an accident a couple years ago. She brought him to my father's clinic to get him some help. We did not have the resources to help him entirely, but we tried anyway. We had to call an ambulance to take him to the local hospital when we could not do anything else for him. He... died on the way. Orihime's been living alone ever since and my oldest friend, Tatsuki, goes to check up on her sometimes since she is her best friend. Why did you ask about her family?" He narrowed his eyes, wondering why Rukia would ask such a strange question. What was she getting at exactly?

The raven-haired girl hesitated. "It's... nothing really, I just wanted to know." 'If I'm right, Orihime may be in danger, but I don't know for sure.'

Orihime continued walking to her house, none the wiser to any of the conversation that just occurred. The boys and Rukia parted ways after and they went on home.

* * *

Night had fallen on the town and the Kurosaki brothers were discussing with their father about what they talked to Kisuke about at his shop. Kisuke had called Isshin earlier in the day after the boys had left to tell him that they had stopped by his shop and talked about certain subjects.

Isshin had chuckled when Urahara told him the interaction between Ichigo and Yoruichi and what the mad genius had gleaned and suspected from his observation of the two. Leave it to Ichigo to have her as his potential soulmate.

Right now, he, Bennett, Ichigo, and Randy were all gathered around the kitchen table and finishing up their conversation.

"So that's basically what happened." finished Randy.

"Okay. Based on what he said, I think Kisuke believes that the Soul Society may come for Rukia if they find out she lost her powers, and that they see you using your own unlocked powers, they may get the wrong idea and think her powers were transferred to you," said the former Shiba, scratching his bearded chin. "That's probably why he and Yoruichi would train you after Rukia trains you three, so you could at least get your feet wet before you take on bigger challenges."

They shrugged, taking his word for it. They supposed that he was right.

Truth be told, Isshin could not predict what Kisuke was up to at all or what he was thinking. He was a mad genius and his mind operated on a whole other level compared to everyone else. The one person whose intelligence could even compare to Urahara's own was Aizen and Aizen was only _close_ to his level of smarts, not even _at_. The ex-captain of Squad 10 couldn't even begin to comprehend what Sosuke Aizen had up his sleeves or was planning or how his diabolical mind worked, so what chance did he have of understanding how his old colleague's crazy mind worked? None.

"Well, we're going to our rooms. I need to relax for a bit." Ichigo yawned. All four males trudged upstairs to their respective bedrooms and shut their doors.

Each of the boys relaxed for a bit to unwind from the day. Bennett listened to music, Randy played by himself on Lego Universe, and Ichigo read some American comics. It was a quiet evening so far, nothing disturbing the boys from their relaxation time.

"Ichigo! Randy! Bennett! We've got orders from the Soul Society!" shouted a certain midget Soul Reaper who had jumped out from Ichigo's closet.

"GAH! What the hell are you doing in my closet?"

"Not important. There's three separate Hollows that just appeared in Karakura Town. Get your brothers and I'll get them into their soul forms and tell them where to go!"

Ichigo ran down the hall to both of his brothers' rooms, opened their doors, and told them to come to his room. They came in and Rukia smacked them each with her special glove on her hand. Their soul forms tumbled out of their bodies and hit the floor.

"Ouch! Hey, what is she doing here?" both Randy and Bennett said.

"Again, not important. There are three Hollows that we need to take care of. See?" Rukia showed her Soul Pager's screen to the boys. The areas two of the dots were in were very familiar to them.

"Shit, one's near Chad's house and the other's near Tatsuki's! They might be after them. Ichigo, you got Tatsuki's place. Bennett, you got Chad." cursed Randy. If they were lucky, they would be able to get to the monsters before their friends got hurt.

"We're on it." affirmed Ichigo. They jumped out the window and started running across the rooftops, then split up after a few seconds.

"Alright, where's Ugly Number 3?"

"That's just it, my Pager said the Hollow was close to here, then it vanished," A beeping sound came from the device. "Oh no, it's right here!"

A large claw appeared in the wall, trying to scratch and grab Randy from his spot in the room. He jumped back and unsheathed his Zanpakuto, holding it in his hand and fending off the appearing clawed hand. A serpent-like Hollow with long arms, clawed hands, and brown hair slunk into the room, out of the wall.

It roared and lunged at Randy, grabbing at him to kill the Substitute. He held his weapon in front of him and blocked the grab by raising the katana horizontally and keeping it in place, then pushed back against its hands in an attempt to overpower it. It obviously did not work as Randy began getting pushed backward and down to his knees.

He let the Hollow push forward and rolled out of the way of the claws crashing down where he had been. Jumping around the room, the blond teen stayed away from its long reach, avoiding a flurry of swipes aimed at his head. He ducked under the swings, readied his sword, and slashed upward, hoping to purify the monster.

The slash connected, but not by much. The hollow leaned back at the last second, causing the mask on its head to crack and a piece of it to come off, showing part of a face of a man Randy knew to be dead. He froze at seeing part of the man's face under the mask. The Hollow clutched its face and screeched in pain. It retreated into the wall and ran off into the night.

Randy breathed out slowly, a flurry of emotions ready to break out at a moment's notice. He turned to the Soul Reaper, who had been avoiding the claws and attacks by staying in one corner of the room. She yelled in anger, "Why didn't you go for the mask? If you slash the mask, you purify the Hollow! So why didn't you?"

He spoke calmly, "Rukia, I did. And when I cut the mask, my weapon did not get all of it. I cut off a piece... and what I saw... was a man. A man who I knew was dead. So tell me, why did the Hollow... HAVE THE FACE OF SORA INOUE?!" yelling at the end, pissed beyond comprehension. Why didn't she tell them that this Hollow was Orihime's brother? Why did she hide that fact?

Rukia gasped. "I was worried something like this might happen," she whispered shakily. "If the face you saw was indeed the man you told me about earlier today, then that really was Sora Inoue, who is now a Hollow."

"How is that even possible? He's dead!"

"Just like spirits who are dead people that Soul Reapers help pass on with the Konso, Hollows are dead people too. Only they did not pass on because they had regrets from when they were alive or something keeping them there. The Chain of Fate that sits in the middle of a spirit's chest is where the hole of Hollow comes from. When a spirit's Chain erodes completely, they are turned into a Hollow and lose their heart. Hollows usually devour the person closest to them in life, not to ease their hunger, but to fill the holes where their heart was."

"Damn... wait, then that means..."

"Yes, that hollow is on its way to Orihime's house." said Rukia, worried about their classmate too.

"I got to get over there! Are you coming or not?"

Rukia nodded and got on his back. They jumped out of the window and ran on the roofs of nearby buildings like Randy's brothers had done before, rushing to get to the auburn-haired girl's home before she got eaten.

* * *

As fast as his legs could carry him, Ichigo darted from roof to roof to get to the location by way of the fastest route without obstacles. He would be damned if he let his old friend get hurt or killed because of a monster when he could have stopped it. It was not in his nature to let his friends get hurt on his watch.

He thought about what Tatsuki had said to them during the day when he and his siblings revealed their true nature to her and Chad. 'Maybe, if all goes well, she might be able to see the Hollow and my soul form and believe us. If she is not able to see spirits, then Tastuki can continue being a non-believer and keep out of this dangerous lifestyle. It might be better that way.'

From the day he had met Tastuki Arisawa, they were close friends. She had met him when they were kids at a dojo where they both took karate classes. She would always beat him in spars and he would tear up until his mother would come to pick him up. After she died, he stopped going to the dojo and was not as close to Tatsuki as before. He had always wanted to regain the closeness they shared when they were kids. They were still good friends, just not as close as he would have liked to be, although both of them had started interacting more than they normally did since they started high school, possibly igniting the sparks of a forgotten close friendship.

When she met Orihime in middle school, he'd thought she found someone else to be friends with. No offense to Orihime or anything, but Tastuki knew him just as well as his brothers did and it was the same with her. They grew up together, they should know each other better than anyone else. It made him a little worried that she might just drop him as a friend entirely altogether.

He could worry about that later, right now he was coming up on the area where her house was situated. He stopped at the edge of a rooftop and looked at the streets. Coming down the road was Tatsuki, probably on her way back from Orihime's.

Ichigo felt a presence crawling around the area. 'Good, I'm not too late, but where is the Hollow?'

Tastuki walked down the road to her home, reflecting on what her old sparring partner had told her. She wanted to believe his story, but she had never seen anything like what he had described before. So why was she wanting to do so in the first place?

She heard a bone-chilling scream come from up ahead and froze. "What was that?!" Was there some psychotic machete-wielding killer stalking around and mercilessly killing teenagers? Oh hell no, she was not getting chopped up tonight!

Tatsuki started running to her house, only to see a pair of large legs crash down and appear in front of her eyes. She looked up and immediately regretted it.

A large creature in possession of muscular arms and legs stood in front her. It had a hole going through its chest and a creepy bone mask in the shape of a gorilla. It was horrific to look at and the Arisawa girl was terrified.

"Not good."

* * *

Chad had been heading home from a practice session with his band. The night was quiet, except for a creepy scream coming from another part of town that reverberated throughout the area, which Chad could not identify what it came from. He was not scared though, he had faced thugs and gangsters since coming back from Mexico to live in Karakura after his grandfather had died.

He had faced the instigators with Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy many times. They stuck together, they were fellow outcasts after all. Like him, Ichigo and Randy had looks dissimilar to a typical Japanese native and they were the target of the people they fought against (somehow, Orihime Inoue had an abnormal hair color and yet, did not have to deal with people like that. Talk about gender inequality. No, seriously. She and the notorious class lesbian, Chizuru Honsho, did not have black or dark brown hair, but they never got harassed for it, but throw in a male like him or his three friends and they would be hounded like no tomorrow). All of them became close friends with him, and he was grateful for that.

Unfortunately, a fish-like creature with a white bone mask, looking similar to what his friends described, had attacked him when he got close to his house, but instead of running, he started punching it to defend himself. Chad always had monstrous strength like his three friends, even when he was younger. And right now, he was using it to keep the Hollow away from him, but it was not working. It screeched and made a grab for him, hoping to devour the Japanese-Mexican...

SHING!

A long arm fell to the ground with a crash, a clean cut going straight through it. The hollow roared in pain at the loss of its appendage. The Sado boy widened his visible eye. He hadn't even seen the limb get cut or who did it. It was that fast. He looked to his right and saw further confirmation of his friends' story, not that he didn't believe them after he saw the Hollow.

With his katana held at his side was Bennett. Chad looked at him and was surprised at what he was wearing. His black kimono pants, black wrappings around his torso and face, white socks with straw sandals on his feet, and his trademark mohawk standing up straight with the colors prominent in the moonlight made him look like a demon straight out of hell. The Substitute Soul Reaper lifted up his head and grinned, not that his equally tall friend could see it. "Yo, Chad. I know you are built like a brick wall, but damn, it's not even a contest here. Is this Hollow giving you trouble?" He rested his sword on his back in a relaxed state.

"Bennett. So I was right, you weren't lying." said the giant of a teen.

"Tatsuki's probably being attacked by another Hollow by her home, which was probably attracted to her Spirit Energy, and if she sees the Hollow, she'll not doubt us anymore. Don't worry about her, Ichigo's taking care of it. Probably the same reason why you were attacked by this one here, since you can see Hollows and have some energy as well."

"I see, thanks."

"Not a problem," Bennett replied. "Now... let's get it crackin'! I'm feeling the need for some sashimi!"

* * *

**Well, Chapter's three done. Again, please no flaming, I will not appreciate it. If you think the fish joke was cringy, then you just don't like my sense of humor. I just couldn't resist putting it in there!**

**Crash, out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. So let's get started.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

Randy sprinted in the night, hoping he wasn't too late. Rukia was situated on his back, holding onto his shoulders, which slowed him down a bit. He realized this and began picking up speed to cancel out the extra weight and not lose time.

While he ran, he thought about Nel and the new information he had received from the diminitive Soul Reaper. Thinking back to the green-haired girl's mask fragment on her head, he had to wonder if the fragment used to be part of a Hollow mask. Did his soulmate used to be a Hollow? If that was the case, how did she gain a human form? From what Rukia had told him, Hollows were dead souls that never passed on to the Soul Society, and he saw that they had forms that didn't resemble humans. 'It doesn't matter, I don't care if Nel used to be a Hollow, I still care for her and that's not going to ever change.'

They finally came up on Orihime's residence and saw the twisted version of Sora Inoue prowling around the area. The Hollow that used to be Orihime's brother was salivating and evil red eyes were peering into the window with its clawed hands making its way through the wall of the house slowly toward the unsuspecting girl.

Rukia got off Randy's back and said, "We're not too late. Randy, stop him before he consumes her!"

"On it!" He leaped off the roof he was standing on and brought his sword down in a stabbing motion into the back of its shoulder. The Hollow roared in pain and quickly pulled out of the wall and stumbled into the street, swinging wildly to get the blond off of his back. Randy fell off onto the ground from not being able to hold on tightly.

"Ugh, remind me never to try bull riding professionally like I did just now. That hurt." he groaned and got up after a few seconds. Grabbing his weapon, he squared off against the monster. The Hollow lunged and he jumped out of the way.

**"RAHHHH! She forgot about me! You won't keep me from her, not my Orihime!"**

"I'm gonna do just that, so don't even think about eating her!" shouted Randy as he deflected another swipe with his Zanpakuto.

The battle raged on for some time. The Hollow slashed and grabbed at Randy, hoping to kill him to progress forward in its goal, but he just kept fighting back, hacking off multiple claws on its hands to prevent other injuries from occurring on his body. He then slashed off the tail and his hands so he could not attack him again. However, the Hollow decided to keep from getting more injuries by avoiding the attacks.

Randy panted. 'This is getting nowhere. He won't let me get close enough to finish him off. Sora said Orihime forgot about him. Maybe, if I talk to him and show him differently, he will understand that he doesn't have to suffer any longer and let me send him on.' "HEY! You said Orihime forgot about you. You're her brother, Sora, right? She looked up to you, if I'm not mistaken. So why are you saying this? How did she forget you?" he shouted.

The Hollow stopped in his tracks for a minute, just standing there with his eyes staring at Randy. A low rumble came from his throat. **"After I died, I watched over her daily, even if she couldn't see me. She always prayed for me at night before she slept. Unfortunately, Orihime eventually became friends with another girl and started spending more time with her. I watched this happen, and eventually, she began praying for me less and less over time, wanting to hang out with that girl more often."**

Randy knew who the former human was talking about. "Tatsuki, you're talking about Tatsuki, aren't you?"

**"Correct. My sister soon stopped praying for me entirely. It's agonizing to think the one you cared for the most in your life forgot about you. I want my Orihime back! If it weren't for that Tatsuki girl, she would have never stopped praying!"**

The hybrid sighed. He could understand how Sora felt. "Maybe the reason she stopped praying for you was because she finally moved on and stopped grieving."

**"What?"**

"I know what it's like to lose a family member. When we lost our mother, it hit us hard. My brother, Ichigo, was with her when she died, and it tore him up inside. But he was able to get past it because he accepted she was gone, and instead of grieving forever, he made sure to always remember her and honor her memory, all of us moved on and did that. Look, my point is that your sister likely never did forget you, she probably didn't want to spend the rest of her life mourning you when it wouldn't bring you back or her any happy memories."

Randy then heard words being spoken by the girl inside the house, and the exact words couldn't have come at a better time. He motioned for the Hollow to look inside the house and hear what Orihime was saying. They both looked and saw her looking at an old picture of Sora and her at a younger age.

Orihime sighed quietly. "Sora, the day you died was the worst day of my life, it felt like my heart was ripped in two. I only had the hairpins you gave me that day to remember you by. But I have worn them everyday to remember what you meant to me. You don't have to protect me any longer, I'm old enough to do so myself, but I will always cherish the thought of you doing so. And I will always love you, my brother. Don't you ever forget that, wherever you are." She lightly kissed two of her fingertips and pressed them to Sora's face in the picture. Then she retired to her room for the night.

The Hollow pulled away from the window slowly and sat there for a moment. The mask began to recede bit by bit until Sora's face could be seen. He was crying. What Orihime said really hit home for him, but he knew it was true. She had grown up into a fine young woman, even though he wouldn't be there to see her grow up all the way. "Kill me... please."

"Excuse me?" blurted out the replacement Soul Reaper.

"She would not have wanted me to suffer anymore since I know she loves me. I need to move on as well, if Orihime has done so, then I shall do so too. Kill me before I revert back." pleaded Sora.

Randy readied his Zanpakuto and answered the man's cries, "Sora Inoue, I wish you luck and may you find peace in the next life." Then he slashed through his head, though no blood came out. Instead, Sora's entire being began dissolving into thin air, leaving behind no trace. All that was left was his head with a smile on his face before that dissolved too.

Randy let out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding in. It was over, finally...

"Good job, Randy. You did well."

He whirled around to find the Kuchiki heiress standing beside him. He gritted his teeth. "No thanks to you! You didn't do jack shit, you just stood there while I was dealing with the Hollow!" Randy shouted.

"I was supervising to make sure you didn't screw up my job." Rukia calmly worded, staring at him with a stoic gaze. Her eyes softened as she remembered what he had said to the now-departed Hollow. "Randy... I heard what you said to him... I didn't know this would be a touchy subject for you. I know it may not make you feel better, but for what it's worth, I am sorry about your mother."

"It's fine, you didn't know. Right now, I just want to go home. It's been a long day and I would like to get some rest." Rukia got up on his shoulders again and they quickly moved back to the house without talking to each other.

* * *

"I can't believe it. You were telling the truth all along... and here I was thinking you three were crazy." Tatsuki Arisawa slumped down against a fence in defeat. She may not have believed her friends' story at first, but seeing was believing apparently.

When the Hollow that had been in Tatsuki's neighborhood attacked her, she tried fighting back without success. Then she started running, but it caught up to her. Tatsuki thought for sure that she was going to die. Then Ichigo appeared in a flash, scooping her up and carrying her out of the way.

He made quick work of the Hollow and killed it without hesitation. He asked if she was okay since he could tell that she was able to see it. Then began their discussion.

Finally, she accepted that he and his brothers were not lying to her, which shook her a bit. The afterlife actually existed. Great, what was next, was Bigfoot real too?

"Does Chad know too?" she asked.

"He may after tonight, I mean, he already believed us, so if he sees a Hollow, it will confirm our story. Bennett's taking care of one by his house," confirmed Ichigo. "You should go home, Tatsuki. It's late and I'm not sure how many more of those things will show up."

She nodded and went to her door. The martial artist was about to open it when she stopped. "Ichigo?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for saving my life. I'm sorry I didn't believe you guys at first." Tatsuki whispered.

"No big deal."

She went inside and shut the door. Then Ichigo Flash Stepped away after a moment, not waiting any longer to get back home.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town by Chad's house, Bennett was dealing with a little "visitor" in the area. The fish-like Hollow was starting to become irritating for him because it kept trying to go after Chad and he was on the defensive for the most part since he could not attack it and protect Chad from getting consumed.

However, something strange happened. Chad was trying to help out a little by blocking all the attacks thrown his way and attempting to counter its attacks, and somehow, when he threw a haymaker with his right arm, he hit the Hollow straight-on and it flew back from the sheer power of the punch and crumpled to the ground, struggling to get up.

Bennett saw his opening and charged it head on, not allowing the Hollow to gain any ground against him. Bennett cut through the creature, ending its existence as a Hollow and purifying it. He sheathed his katana and dusted himself off.

"Thanks, Bennett." rumbled the young giant.

"No problem, Chad," responded his fellow giant. "Though why did the Hollow take that much damage from your punch? I know your freakish strength is comparable to ours, but that's because of our heritage, so how come it basically fell apart with a single heavy punch?"

"I don't know, but my arm feels strange though, like it received a boost of strength behind that one punch. And strangely enough, the power also felt similar to that monster we were fighting just now, as if it was the same."

Strange indeed, but they couldn't dwell on it now. They bid each other goodbye and parted ways for the night.

* * *

A few weeks passed after the incidents involving the three separate Hollows. While the boys fell into a steady rhythm of dealing with Hollows and helping souls pass on, Tatsuki and Chad were able to make excuses for them to get out of class to handle their duties. Unfortunately, it happened somewhat often, much to the brothers' irritation.

Of course, Rukia figured it out quickly that their two friends knew about their "extracurricular obligations" and confronted them about it. Not wanting to get her mad by lying about it, Ichigo and Bennett explained that they had told their friends the day directly after they first experienced the Hollow attack on their house and that Ichigo's old sparring partner hadn't believed them originally, but the tall mixed boy did, frankly because of him having trusted them for so long. The second part of the explanation consisted of the ginger and the punk fighting the Hollows Kuchiki had sent them after as well as the two spiritually-aware humans that they had protected, which got Tatsuki to concede that she believed their story.

The powerless Soul Reaper at first wanted to scold the two for not being careful enough and giving away a massive secret before they told her that they had been good friends for quite some time and this meant that if they could see ghosts, they had been spiritually-aware for longer than the two had figured. She then admitted defeat and stopped pursuing the topic as she realized that their help getting them out of class could come in handy.

During the weeks that passed, Bennett and Randy talked extensively with their soulmates in their Inner Worlds. Both of them told their other half about being hybrids of Quincies, Hollows, and Soul Reapers. Both Tia and Nelliel accepted them regardless (considering that the two females were half Soul Reaper and half Hollow), and inwardly, both hoped that in the future, they could tell the boys what they were and Bennett and Randy would accept them and not reject them for just being evolved Hollows.

Despite the short amount of time spent together, each of them could safely see they loved one another without a doubt. And a couple of days previously, Bennett had suggested that Tia get her friends and Nel and come visit them in Karakura Town someday. That got her to blush and fantasize about her and him doing all sorts of things when they finally met in person, some of those thoughts turning dirty.

The brothers also spent some of their afternoons at the Urahara Shop training and communicating with their Zanpakutos. Kisuke and Yoruichi would personally train them in combat skills, the crafty shopkeeper in swordsmanship and the werecat in Flash Step and other techniques. Unfortunately, Ichigo was the victim of a merciless prank from the Flash Master herself, which involved her transformation from a black, golden-eyed cat into her true form. She would appear as a cat and then transform into her human form, completely nude, trying to tease him by pressing her body and well-endowed chest against the poor kid, hoping for a reaction, the reaction being Ichigo yelling at her to put some clothes on. She was initially surprised at that, but found it cute and a welcome change from the disgusting nobles back in the Seireitei that leered at her.

Right now, however, Chad, Rukia, Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett were running from a particularly sadistic and vicious Hollow flying overhead and spitting out leech bombs that detonated at the command of the monster. They had already been hit several times by the disgusting things and were attempting to avoid more hits if possible.

It started when Chad had brought a talking pet bird along with him to school. It talked too intelligently when someone spoke to it to be a normal bird, which caught Randy's attention. He got Rukia to take a look at the bird and she discovered the soul of a young boy trapped inside of the animal. They decided to take the parakeet to Urahara to see if he could figure something out.

The perverted businessman actually struck up a small conversation with the poor trapped soul and learned from him that the boy's name was Yuichi Shibata and he had belonged to several different owners before those previous owners had each met their untimely demise from accidents. Of course, Kisuke found that suspicious and gently coaxed the boy for more information, but Yuichi wouldn't say and apologized for it. So the former captain took a look into the accidents and revealed to the five that the deaths were not simply accidents, but instead the results of someone killing those who had possession of the parakeet. He surmised that the soul was the target itself, not the people that owned the avian creature, and that the accidents could not have been orchestrated by a human, so it had to be a Hollow.

The five decided to leave the shop with Yuichi to draw out the attacker by being out in the open. Sure enough, a Hollow slithered out of its hiding spot and went after them. Rukia then hit the brothers with her special glove, putting them into their soul forms. Unfortunately, Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett did not know about its leech bombs and got a couple on them, which exploded and injured them. They had to start running to avoid the explosives completely and not get hurt anymore.

**"HAHAHAHA! You can run from me, but I will find you miserable Soul Reapers!"** cackled the malicious beast known as Shrieker.

"Damn, this guy's annoying! He's a pest!" yelled a pissed Ichigo as he dodged a leech flying down from the sky, then turning around and slicing another as it nearly smacked him in the back.

Bennett shouted back, "We can't keep running forever, we'll just tire ourselves out! And then we won't be able to fight back!"

"Yes, but why does he want this kid so bad? It makes no sense." said Sado. He was carrying the bird cage with the animal inside, careful to make sure the bird wasn't subjected to damage from the bombs.

Finally, Randy snapped after getting pelted one more time with a leech and it exploding on them. "AAARRRGGGHHH! That's it, I'm gonna gut this son of a bitch like a damn fish!" he roared in fury. The false delinquent turned around and leapt into the air, charging straight for the Hollow and catching him off guard. Randy then sliced off both of his wings in his crazed state and the heartless monster fell to the ground in a heap.

**"You bastard... that hurt. I am going to make you suffer for that, you twerp. Just wait until I get my hands on all of you and that worthless runt of a kid!"** Shrieker stood up and glared at them for ruining his fun with the Shibata child. How dare they get involved and end his game!

Rukia questioned, "Just why do you want Yuichi so bad anyway? He did nothing to you, he's just a young child!" She didn't understand what was motivating this Hollow to go after this Plus so much. Did he have a grudge from when he was still a human?

He chuckled menacingly. **"Oh, there's a reason. When I was still alive and kicking, I was a notorious murderer, I had never been caught and no one ever would catch me. I was that good at doing it! That is, until the day I showed up at that brat's house. I tried to kill his mother, but I made a critical mistake. She protected him from me and both fell out into the balcony. Once I finished her off... that's where it gets sticky. The little shit knocked me over the railing to protect her from me and I fell to my death... but not before I took him with me!"**

All three brothers' Spiritual Pressures increased in strength and density in response to the Hollow's story and their faces darkened visibly, but Shrieker either didn't notice or care. He just kept on smugly gloating. **"After I died, I found his soul wandering around looking for his precious mommy. Placing him into the body of a bird, I gave a proposition: Avoid capture by me for three months and I would revive her. Of course, I never had the intention of doing so and I never could do so in the first place. HA! He was so gullible. And each time I caught him, he wanted to give up when I killed his owners, but each time I persuaded him to continue because I told him his mommy was waiting for him! HAHA!"**

At this point, Ichigo couldn't take it any longer. "YOU BASTARD! YOU ARE PSYCHOPATHIC AND DEMENTED! ALL YUICHI DID WAS TRY TO PROTECT HIS MOTHER! HE DID NOTHING TO YOU! YOU DESERVE TO BURN IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL FOREVER!" he screamed. This Hollow was pure evil! They needed to purify him quickly so Yuichi would not have to suffer this torture any longer.

_**"Randy, he doesn't even care who he hurts as long as he has his fun. This Hollow has to be killed! Let me reap his worthless soul!" **_Randy's Hollow side of his Zanpakuto thrashed about in his mind, screaming bloody murder in response to the despicable actions done by Shrieker. Similarly, his fellow Hollow Zanpakuto were in a similar state in their master's mind. Not only that, but their Quincy counterparts were angrily voicing their displeasure with the monster.

**"As if I care what you Soul Reapers think! I am going to continue this little game for as long as I want and none of you can stop me!"**

Bennett turned to his friend and said, "Chad, take Yuichi and get somewhere safe. This will get messy... really messy." Chad nodded and ran off. The punk Kurosaki turned back around and faced down the Hollow as he and his brothers gripped their weapons. "You say that we cannot stop you from continuing this psychotic charade? Think again, you twisted psychopath! We will send you to Hell and you will burn for the rest of your afterlife! Randy, Ichigo, let's rip apart this jackass." In response, each of their spiritual pressures started becoming dark and Hollow-like and their eyes turned gold and black, which Rukia noticed but didn't comment on.

"Right." his brothers replied simultaneously. Along with Rukia, they leapt into action, intent on destroying the cruel Hollow for good.

If someone said that Shrieker had a chance of surviving the fight and winning... they would be wrong.

Frankly, it was nothing short of a brutal and bloody slaughter.

Each brother would leave large gaping gashes and wounds from their swords on his arms and legs, blood seeping out in puddles on the street. It wasn't enough to be lethal, but was rather intended to be serious enough to cripple him and stop him from moving anymore. In addition to the wounds, they would gore him head-on in his body using the sharp Zanpakutos, leaving Shrieker in searing pain and agony.

He tried to launch his leeches, but was stopped by Rukia blasting him with multiple Byakurai and Shakkaho. He had no defense and no offense and they did not let up for one second.

After a bit, he collapsed, drained of his energy, no longer able to fight back or defend himself. He was breathing heavily and not getting enough oxygen with every breath he took. **"Damn you... you won't get away with this..."**

Randy grabbed hold of the Hollow's bone mask and growled in his face, "I want you to think long and hard about what we did to you, think about how excruciatingly painful it was for you. Never forget that and the next time you try something like what you did to that boy again, we will hunt you down and there will be no mercy from us. Are we clear, you bastard?"

The Hollow didn't answer, he simply glared at the four Soul Reapers in anger. Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy each gripped their swords and thrust through his mask, signalling the end of his terror.

A large set of hellish doors popped up from the ground and loomed ominously from behind the monster. He looked back and immediately felt fear like never before. The doors opened up and chains began encircling his body, wrapping around Shrieker's body and limbs and pulling him into the fiery depths of the Netherworld reserved for the evilest of people.

He screamed in horror, **"No, no, no, no! I don't want to go there, you can't make me! NO! All of you will pay for this!"** He tried to keep hold of the street to keep from getting pulled into Hell, but to no avail. He lost all of his strength and the chains dragged him in, cursing up a storm. The doors slammed shut and they began slowly sinking back into the earth, leaving no trace that they were ever there to begin with.

All of the present Soul Reapers let out a sigh of relief. They would not have to deal with him ever again...

"Look out!" shouted Yasutora Sado as he was coming back from his hiding spot, holding Yuichi. There was a second Hollow leaping into the air, ready to devour them as its next meal. The three brothers and Rukia were surprised at the sight and couldn't react in time.

A blue light arrow shot out from the distance and vaporized the monster, destroying it and ending its life in the Cycle of Rebirth. Shocked, the five scanned the area for the shooter but couldn't find them. Most likely, they had fled the scene immediately after confirming the kill.

Rukia asked, "Did anyone see where whoever shot that arrow came from?"

"No." the boys responded.

"Well whoever they were was spiritually aware because they had to have seen the Hollow to destroy it. Who could it have been though?"

Unknown to both Chad and Rukia, Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett knew exactly who that person was: One of the two remaining Quincies in Karakura Town. Knowing that, the only person possible was the younger of the two since the elder Quincy refused to use their powers. _"Looks like your cousin finally showed after all this time, Ichigo. It's safe to say he already knows of you and your brothers' temporary occupation."_ stated the calmer of the two presences in Ichigo's mind.

'Let's play it cool for now, if what my old man says is true, then he will have a grudge against all Soul Reapers.' he answered. "Don't know, but we can ask Kisuke if he knows anything. We need to finish our job here anyway." He nodded at the dark-skinned teen and the giant set down the cage on the ground.

"Thank you for freeing me from his clutches, but can I ask you something?' said Yuichi happily.

"Ask away." replied Randy. 'But I have a feeling that we all know what you will ask of us, kid.'

"Can you revive my mother please? I really miss her."

Rukia sighed sadly. She gently broke the news to the boy, knowing it would break his heart. "Yuichi... once a soul dies, there is no bringing the person back to life. Shrieker was stringing you along for his own sick purposes. There is no way to bring back your mother, I'm sorry."

He looked down in sadness. Deep down, he figured that was the case, she just confirmed it for him. "It's okay. I know you can't, but I just wanted to be with her again."

"But you can be with her again. A Soul Reaper's job is to send souls to the next world, the Soul Society. It's a place where the deceased live on, and your mother may be there as well. You can be happy with her in the afterlife. To get there, we need to perform a Konso on you, the ritual that sends your soul to the Soul Society. Do you really want to possibly see her again?"

The bird let a lone tear trail down its cheek. "I really do, it's all I want. Please send me on, Miss Rukia."

She smiled in response. "Then let's begin."

* * *

A black-haired, glasses-wearing figure in the Karakura High uniform walked away from the area after viewing the confrontation and intervening, leaving no trace he was ever there. He quickly made his way through the town, walking with the crowd to avoid suspicion.

He had to since almost all of the Quincies had been slaughtered by the Soul Society and very few were left alive. If the Soul Reapers found out there were still a few of them left, they may come back to wipe them out completely. He had his pride as the "Last Quincy" to preserve and he wouldn't allow it to happen.

Still, his actual reason for hating the Soul Reapers was not the near-decimation of his kind, but what a couple of them did, or rather failed to do. He would always remember the sight of that day, his lifeless body laying on the grudge, mutilated, and the regiment of Soul Reapers standing around the body arriving too late to save him.

The male reached the residence he lived at, a large mansion that could be afforded due to his father's job at the local hospital. He walked in the door and took his shoes off. Immediately, he went up the stairs and froze when the patriarch called out to him, "You just couldn't help yourself, could you, Uryu?"

The teenage boy, Uryu Ishida, sighed in frustration. "Hello to you too, Ryuken." Why couldn't his father take pride in his son's Quincy abilities or his own? It was who they were and they couldn't run away from that. Time and time again, Uryu would try to convince Ryuken to use his skills to protect their hometown, but he flat-out refused every time.

"Must you always address your father by his first name? What have I told you about this Quincy business and getting in the way of the Soul Reapers' work? And you never listen to me. So what was it this time, hmm?" scolded the snow-haired clone of the younger Quincy as Uryu walked into his father's study.

"The Soul Reaper in charge of this town was not able to handle a hollow that attacked them out of the blue, so I destroyed it. It turns out there are a trio of new Soul Reapers in this town, but it seems the first one can't access their powers and the new three are fellow classmates of mine, brothers actually." calmly explained Uryu.

The elder Ishida knew who his son was talking about. Isshin had contacted both him and the shady shopkeeper and explained the situation and what the triplets knew, so he made the decision to deal with his son soon so Uryu would be able to fight alongside his cousins without issues arising between them. Lord knows they would need to in order to defeat Aizen. 'I'm sorry your sons and nephew got dragged into this world, my dear cousin. Unfortunately, they most likely would have been involved at some point in their lives, and that may be my biggest regret of all. Damn that bastard Aizen.'

It would take time to explain to Uryu, but he promised Masaki that their children would one day be like brothers, support one another, and watch each other's backs against all threats. "We need to have a long chat about some things that need to be discussed, my son." he said.

The fledgling Quincy wondered, "What kind of things?" Why was his father sounding so depressed suddenly?

"Our family, Uryu. Our family."

* * *

"Nel, are all Hollows like Shrieker or are some good and they do not harm humans while some are bad? I mean, with humans there are some good ones and some bad ones, so does that mean it's like that with Hollows as well?" Randy asked his soulmate in his inner world that night, a little upset from what the vicious and evil Hollow had done to Yuichi Shibata.

After Randy sent him on using a Konso, Chad went back home and the rest returned to the Kurosaki residence, Rukia quickly getting back up to Randy's closet without anyone noticing and the boys walking through the front door and greeting Karin, Yuzu, and their father. But they didn't feel like eating the dinner that was set out due to the events of the day. They were too disgusted with the actions of the dead murderer to have an appetite so they just went upstairs to their rooms to rest.

Randy talked a little bit with his Arrancar soulmate about what happened that day. He was quite distressed and needed someone to talk with to wrap his head around the events of the battle and revelations by Shrieker, just to understand what basically motivated him to do what he did.

Nel sighed. "You're right on the second guess. Some Hollows want to stay in Hueco Mundo where they simply want to live out their lives without being in fear of Soul Reapers coming after them and purifying them. They don't devour humans or their souls like others do. Unfortunately, there are bad ones as well, they consume humans and souls with pleasure and without remorse. Those ones give the peaceful Hollows a bad name." 'And many of the Arrancar like Nnoitora are like those Hollows as well.' she mentally added at the end.

"I figured it was like that. People aren't necessarily good or bad, it depends on the individual. You can't judge a person simply from another's actions or species. I guess it's like that with Hollows and Soul Reapers too." Randy said.

"Yeah, I guess so," she paused and put her delicate hand on his, making him look up at her and blush at the gesture. "It's nice just sitting here and talking with you, it makes me feel happy."

"I feel the same way." They sat there enjoying the peace and quiet of the male hybrid's Inner World. "Hey, I never told you this but my brother, Bennett, also talks with a girl in his Inner World. He feels the same way about her as I do you. He's in love with her. Him, Benetto Kurosaki, one of the toughest high school students around, in love with a girl. It's funny really because he's this tough-as-nails badass and he has a soft spot for her and—"

"Randii?" she cut him off.

"Yeah?"

"Just shut up and enjoy the quiet."

"Okay."

* * *

The punk Kurosaki was talking with his soulmate and laying on the grass holding her hand when he looked around the mountains in his Inner World. "Odd, why do I have the feeling to kick Randy's ass?"

Tia shrugged. "Who knows." She smiled under her jacket at the feeling of his hand. 'I wish this could last forever.' Sadly at that moment she woke up.

* * *

Tia Halibel opened her eyes and looked around her chambers in her palace in Las Noches. She looked at her hand and blushed. 'How I wish I could finally be with Bennett in person. But Aizen has a massive interest in him, Randy, and Ichigo. I need to find an opportunity to get my Fraccion and I away from that man for good. Not only that, I have to find Randy's soulmate, Nelliel, outside of Las Noches and also get her out of here,' she mentally sighed. 'It will take time, but I will make it happen.'

"Master Halibel, are you awake?" called out one of her Fraccion, Sung-Sun, from the door leading to her room.

"I am now, Sung-Sun." the Beauty of Hueco Mundo answered to her subordinate/friend. The snake Arrancar opened the door and came in. Unfortunately, a small scuffle between her two other Fracciones, Mila Rose and Apacci, could be heard outside the room.

"You cow! What man could resist this body?!" shouted the red-and-blue-eyed woman.

"Any sane one since you're so flat chested, bitch! They'd want a real woman... me!" argued her big chested rival.

Tia sighed. This always happened between them; Mila Rose and Apacci would get into an argument about something and Sung-Sun would insult them both, causing the two to get mad at her. This time, they were arguing about their looks and who could get a man, although the serpent had not interjected just yet...

"I don't think any man would want either of you two because of your personalities."

"SHUT UP, SUNG-SUN!"

And there it was.

"Ladies, enough. There's something we need to do today. Meet me outside Las Noches." Tia put her foot down to silence any more fights. She went to her personal bathroom to clean up. She stopped when she saw the bone mask fragment covering her large breasts that went up to her jaw and framing her face in the mirror. She sighed, this time in disappointment. She was an Arrancar, an evolved Hollow, and that was all she was ever going to be, no matter how much she wanted to be complete. 'I don't want him to hate me because of what I am, although I get the feeling he doesn't care about that. But I just wish I was whole again.'

After cleaning up and changing into her Espada clothes, Tia walked out of the huge dome of Las Noches where her Fraccion was waiting. "What are we doing here, Master Halibel? What could be so important that we left the fortress?" asked Apacci in an attempt to learn what her superior's goal was.

"Not here, we need to get out of the area and away from any prying eyes, then I shall tell you." the Espada answered, forcing the curiosity of her friends to come to the surface of their emotions. Okay, now she had their attention.

They disappeared in a buzz of static across the sands of the desert far away from Las Noches. Once they had moved a considerable distance to a quiet spot, they stopped. "Ladies, I need to tell you something. Aizen cannot know this because I have never trusted him and I never will because we are all expendable pawns to him and he will just use all of us to further his goals until the Arrancars are no longer useful to him. I have a soulmate in the World of the Living and I am in love with him." Tia revealed to her comrades.

"WHAT?! How is that even possible?! We've never left Hueco Mundo!" They were shocked. This was something her friends were not expecting at all.

"We are connected through his Inner World. We have been meeting there each night and we talk about... well, everything, but I have never met him in person. But someday I would like to be with him."

"Inner World, huh? So this guy's a Soul Reaper. They're all alike, hunting us Hollows down like animals." Apacci gnashed her teeth in fury.

Tia cut her off there, "Stop it, Apacci. Bennett's different and for good reason. He and his twin brothers' are naturally made hybrids of a Soul Reaper, Quincy, and Hollow, all while still being human at the same time."

'Woah. We knew that Hollows could gain Soul Reaper powers, but a Soul Reaper having the abilities of a Hollow? That's new.' Her followers were in awe at what she told them. Maybe they had finally found a Soul Reaper that would accept Hollows.

"His brother, Randy, is in a similar situation with another female Arrancar, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck." the only female Espada commented.

"Your predecessor, the former Third Espada? Didn't she disappear after that misogynistic asshole, Nnoitora, attacked her and left her in a weakened state?" questioned Mila Rose. She knew that Master Halibel had heard stories about Nelliel's exile and overheard the current Fifth Espada gloating how he had gotten rid of her and caused her to turn into a small child for unknown reasons.

"Yes, we need to find her in the desert and see if she can come with us when the time comes to leave Aizen's army. That's another reason I never trusted him, Nnoitora Gilga was never punished for his actions and Aizen allowed it to happen to Nelliel. Come on, we need to get moving." Tia instructed them to get going, she didn't want to get caught doing this by Aizen, even though she knew there was a high probability of that happening anyway. Sosuke Aizen seemed to know everything, but he was in the Soul Society right now so there was a tiny chance they could pull this off.

* * *

In a nearby area of Hueco Mundo, a small, green-haired Arrancar was waking up from her sleep. Her "brothers" were still sleeping next to her, along with their pet Hollow. She rubbed her eyes with her tiny fists and looked around.

In the back of Nel Tu's mind, a name kept repeating over and over until it came bubbling to the surface.

A name that her adult form loved and cherished.

The name of her soulmate.

"Randy..."

* * *

**And that chapter is done. As always, read and review. And no flaming, please.**

**So a couple of days ago, I was surfing the web for nothing special, I just was bored. And I remembered that one of my favorite authors was at the Disney HQ talking with executives about possibly adapting his books into a series. Now, he had been in talks with them for a while, but nothing had come of it yet. So I searched up for any updates or news about the talks... and then I found it...**

**LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S OFFICIAL! PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS IS OFFICIALLY BECOMING A TV SERIES! NOW I CAN DIE HAPPY!**

**That's the news I found, I had been checking up on it regularly ever since there were those Percy Jackson CW TV series rumors which sadly were only rumors. Ever since the 20th Century Fox and Disney deal, I was really hopeful that Percy would finally get his adventures continued.**

**Now I know that some people don't like the two movies that came out some time ago. But I did. Yes, they weren't true to the books, but I liked them regardless. I don't care if you hated them or not, it's your opinion. I'm just saying that some people did like the movies, so clearly some things did get done right (not all things, but some).**

**One thing I didn't like though in the books was that Uncle Rick paired Percy with Annabeth. I'm not hating on her, but I always felt that Thalia would have made a better love interest than her. Thalia and Percy just fit better as a couple because they have those similarities that can tie them together. I'm a massive Perlia shipper if you can't tell. But seriously, Uncle Rick could have still written a great series and gotten Thalia to interact with Percy more and make them really like each other. Not only that, but he's the only respectable male in the world according to Artemis and Thalia could have left the Hunters with her blessing to be with him after the Titan War.**

**Sorry, I'm ranting again. Anyways, I'm happy that one of my favorite book series is finally getting the recognition it should be getting.**

**Now, if only there was some current news on whether the Michael Vey TV Series is getting filmed or not...**

**Crash, out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone.**

**I just realized if I want to add new attacks to the brothers' arsenal, I will either have to use Google Translate for the names or simply name them in English. I just can't take the time to search all over the web for accurate translations since I really don't have the time and I don't know any reliable kanji translators at all. Unfortunately, those are the two options I am left with.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

The sands of Hueco Mundo were not a happy place, but to Tia and her Fracciones, it was home. They had lived their entire afterlife here, the endless night being all they ever knew. But things were different now, and they knew while some things were changed for the better, not all of it was good. Aizen may have brought a sense of order and stability to the dreary world, but it was only a matter of time before he discarded the Arrancars as useless pawns.

As she Sonidoed through the desert, Tia thought back to her past. She had been a Vasto Lorde Hollow wandering the night and she would protect other female Hollows from being consumed by male Hollows. That was how she had met her friends. They had been Adjuchas who were by themselves until she found and brought them together to work as a group to keep themselves safe.

But it was a lonely time and she longed to have someone to care for other than Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci. She wanted a companion... no, someone to love, but it seemed that would never happen and the sole female Espada would be doomed to live alone in solitude.

Then Aizen "saved" her and her Fracciones. However, she knew better. When they confronted Baraggan, she felt his spiritual pressure in the area, setting off the alarms in her mind that something wasn't right and the hammerhead Arrancar attacking them after had basically confirmed it. What he had told her after he defeated the Arrancar clued her in to his intentions with them and Tia figured out very quickly that Aizen intentionally gave the Hollow the power he wanted knowing full well what would happen and his false rescue was an excuse to gain her loyalty.

However, she had no choice but to accept his offer since she feared he would cut them down if they refused. He turned her and her followers in Arrancar and they spent their days in the large fortress of Las Noches. It was just as lonely as before and she began to lose hope that she would never have a male companion to be with.

When she first met Bennett in his Inner World, she did not immediately know that he was her soulmate, but she knew the young man was special from the beginning. Eventually, she fell in love with him as he did with her when they continued to meet with each other, but something scared her.

He may have been a hybrid of 3 separate species and still human and she knew that he was different and would accept her for what she was, but she was still worried Bennett would reject her, which was not a nice thought for her. Tia didn't want that to happen, but she couldn't help fearing that he would hate her for being an Arrancar.

But she was more afraid of Aizen killing him. From what the Shark Empress could understand based on what she had heard around Las Noches, Bennett, Ichigo, and Randy were major interests and possibly even experiments of Aizen's and she believed that he had a hand in the circumstances surrounding their family, especially in how the brothers came to be part Hollow. If he no longer found them interesting, Tia knew he might dispose of them.

'No, I can't think of that right now, we must find Nelliel quickly.' She shook her head, discarding such thoughts.

They continued moving for fifteen more minutes until they felt Spiritual Pressures that belonged to three Arrancars nearby. Stopping, they searched the area for any sign of them, but found nothing. "Well, I didn't expect to find her immediately, but we have been looking for quite a bit and still haven't found anything. Where could she be? And who did the spiritual pressures belong to?" wondered Sung-Sun.

"I'm not sure, but they have to be here somewhere." piped up Mila Rose. This was getting frustrating for them.

No sooner than she had said that, they heard a couple of voices and feet running in the sand coming toward them. Looking in the direction it was coming from, the Arrancar women saw a group of a small green-haired female Arrancar in rags being chased by a skinny beetle-like male Arrancar and heavyset tiki male Arrancar who were being followed by a large worm Hollow slithering behind them. The girl was crying while she was being chased, which angered Apacci who brought out her Zanpakuto, dashed over to the males, and smacked them on the head with it.

"Hey! Stop chasing her and making her cry, you jerks! Just who do you think you are making a child cry?!" she roared.

"No, stop! They were chasing Nel in Eternal Tag!" the young child cried out, waving her tiny arms in an effort to get the attention of the older females.

Apacci immediately stopped and looked at her in confusion. "Eternal Tag? But why were you crying then?" she asked.

Nel then smiled a toothy grin. "Oh, Nel is continuing to be chased until Nel starts crying! It's no fun without any pain, because Nel's a masochist!" she exclaimed like she hadn't dropped a metaphorical bomb on them.

Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci sweatdropped. "Uh..." They couldn't find the words to describe how they felt at hearing the little girl's proclamation.

Tia, however, was thinking about what the girl called herself. It seemed to be similar to... No, this couldn't be her... but the hair color was right and Nnoitora said it himself that she was in a child-like state because of him... could it? 'Let's test that theory.' "Your name's Nel, right?" she asked, a little unsure of herself.

"Uh huh, Nel's Nel!"

"You wouldn't happen to be Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, my predecessor, would you?"

The miniature Arrancar froze and clutched her head. A flurry of memories came rushing forth and bombarded her mind. "Ugh, Nel's head. That name..." She slowly began remembering her past. It all came back to her; Szayelaporro's experiment, her Fracciones, Nnoitora's attack, her exile, everything.

Her two companions rushed over to her, worried for her. "Nel! Are you alright?" asked the tiki Arrancar. "Speak to us!"

Tia's friends' jaws dropped. "This is her, the former Third Espada?" Mila Rose whispered in disbelief to their leader.

"I believe so. Nelliel, do you know a boy who was special to you? A boy named Randii Kurosaki?" she asked, hoping to confirm her theory.

The girl said a single word, "Randy." A poof of pink smoke appeared, engulfing her and the Arrancar. The Espada and her followers waited patiently to see what would happen.

When the smoke cleared, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck stood in her adult form, opening her eyes to see the female Arrancar looking at her. She turned to her two companions and hugged them. "Thank you for keeping me happy and protecting me all this time, Pesche, Dondochakka. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Master Nelliel." said Pesche.

"So you are my successor." Nelliel confirmed.

"Yes, My name is Tia Halibel, Third Espada. These are my Fracciones, Sung-Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose. We have much to talk about concerning some issues currently, namely Aizen and our soulmates." Tia explained. 'This might take a little bit of time to explain to her.'

* * *

"So what is this about, Kisuke?" asked Randy. The four Soul Reapers had gathered in the Urahara Shop per Urahara and Rukia's request. Rukia had asked them at school to meet there because Kisuke had something that would help them in their duties around Karakura Town.

"Rukia decided it was necessary to give you these." He held out three small candy dispensers to each of them. "They're Soul Candy, they are designed to get you into your soul form without the use of Rukia's special glove. Basically they are Artificial Souls to stay in your body while you do your jobs. Be careful though, these ones are special because they are different from regular Soul Candy, in fact they are Mod-Souls which are enhanced for battle."

"WHAT?! You're giving them Mod-Souls? Urahara, that's dangerous and if Soul Society realizes that they're not regular Artificial Souls, they'll destroy them. Central 46 decreed that Operation Spearhead, the project that created them, was too inhumane and shut it down," shouted Rukia. "They said it was cruel to place them inside deceased human corpses for them to fight Hollows. That's why they destroyed all the Mod-Souls ever produced."

Kisuke flipped open his fan to hide his smirk. "Miss Kuchiki, Central 46 has been known to make prejudicial, biased, and/or foolish decisions before. So I don't exactly trust the government a whole lot. Besides, the Mod-Souls' personalities have been changed to mimic or at least be close to the Kurosakis', albeit with enough differences between them to tell them apart just in case., as well as the fact that they will work better than regular Artificial Souls to protect the boys' bodies."

The brothers each popped a candy in their mouths and were transported out of their bodies in their Soul forms. They looked at their bodies and saw them standing upright with their usual expressions on their faces.

Ichigo looked at his body and it scowled at him. "What are you looking at?!" it growled.

He smirked. "You really outdid yourself, Kisuke. Alright, you, my friend, need a name. You're your own person, so you gotta be called something. I think I'll call you Kon."

Bennett said to the Mod-Soul in his body, "Your name shall be Hasashi."

Randy was in thought till he snapped his fingers. "Got it, you're now Hikaru."

The Mod-Souls looked happy at their new names. Then the brothers entered back into their human bodies. "Alright, Hat-and-Clogs, we gotta jet. It's that day today." Ichigo said. They gained a somber look and began walking out the shop to return home.

Kisuke looked down in remembrance and understanding. "I know. Go be with your family, we can continue talking another time."

Randy thanked him and said, "Rukia, go ahead and ask Kisuke about that blue arrow that took out that Hollow that tried ambushing us, we'll get the details later." He cast the perverted man a meaningful look that spoke volumes about what Urahara should and should not tell the Kuchiki princess. Then he followed his brothers out the door.

Rukia followed her friend's advice and told Kisuke, "While we were finishing up dealing with Shrieker, a Hollow appeared from its hiding spot and tried getting the jump on us. However, a blue arrow came out of nowhere and killed it while it was still in the air. We don't know where the projectile came from or who fired it, but from what I could tell, the arrow completely destroyed the Hollow instead of purifying it. Do you know anything about who might have had something to do with it?"

He sighed. "The shooter could have only been a Quincy, no doubt about it." The ex-Squad 12 captain looked expectantly at Rukia to see if she could recognize the name.

"Quincy? I'm not familiar with the term."

"The Quincies were a race of spiritually aware humans that hunted Hollows just as Soul Reapers do. There are a few key differences, however. A Quincy is able to absorb and manipulate Reishi to create weapons. They also exterminate Hollows, they don't purify them and they do that because Hollows are poisonous to Quincies. Finally, instead of wearing black shihakusho, they are dressed in white priest-like clothing. They used to be abundant prior to about two hundred years ago."

"What happened?" asked Rukia. This was new information to her, mostly because it was before her time as a Soul Reaper

"Well, the Quincies believed that they should be the ones to defend the World of the Living and be the first line of defense against Hollows, but Soul Society couldn't accept that for a major reason: The Balance of Souls. When a Quincy destroys a Hollow, it doesn't get sent to Soul Society, the Soul is just gone from existence and the Cycle of Rebirth. This eventually happened so often that Soul Society tried to get the Quincies to cease their actions as they greatly disrupted the Balance of Souls, but they refused. So the Quincy race was killed off to preserve the Balance. That happened nearly two hundred years ago. There are some still left in existence, however, they are extremely small in number." finished Urahara.

Rukia was speechless. "Woah. So this Quincy may have a grudge against us just because we are Soul Reapers, I'll tell Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett to be careful." She thanked Urahara and left the store.

* * *

The Kurosaki family walked to the local cemetery in order to pay their respects for their matriarch. It wasn't a long walk, but the invisible weight on their shoulders made it seem much longer than it was. Six years had passed since Masaki was killed and they were used to not having her around anymore, but that didn't make it any better to deal with and the memory was especially painful for Ichigo as he had been with their mother the night she died.

Isshin tried to make the mood a little lighter by goofing off somewhat and Yuzu giggled a little at his actions, but Karin just socked him in the stomach in annoyance. The boys ignored the commotion, not caring if he got hit.

They walked ahead when they saw they were close, their family following behind. They reached the cemetery and walked through the rows of graves, finally stopping when the boys saw the one they were here for.

They looked at the headstone and sighed. Isshin came up behind them and put a hand on Ichigo and Randy's shoulders, attempting to comfort them.

"Boys, your mother would be proud of the men you are today. Don't ever forget that, she wouldn't want you being sad over her death and not living your lives to the fullest." he said, patting them

"Thanks, dad. We appreciate it." Bennett thanked their father. Isshin may have been a complete child at times, but they knew that even he could be serious when the situation called for it.

"Besides, if you didn't live your lives, then you wouldn't be able to give me grandchildren with your soulmates!" He grinned and gave a thumbs up to his sons.

"Damn it, you crazy old goat! Not that again!" they groaned with Randy punching him in the face and sending him to the dirt.

Okay, they may have been spoken too soon.

He sprang back up and walked to the blanket that Yuzu and Karin had set up nearby along with the special lunch the blonde had made for the occasion like she did every year on this day. The brothers followed him and they all sat down.

Isshin did a small toast to Masaki and they started eating. It was a lively affair, the food was delicious as always, their father told corny and terrible jokes that made Ichigo scowl and Randy and Bennett groan at his stupidity, the only thing that was missing was their mother.

But that was the point of the lunch by her grave, it was to remember her and the good times they shared with her, not to mourn her. They had already moved past that stage and didn't want to go back to it no matter what happened.

A couple of hours later, they had finished the food and packed up to head home. They were just about to leave when Bennett saw Rukia motioning to them from the treeline and nudged his brothers who looked up and also saw her.

"Hey old man, there's a classmate we have to catch up with. Go ahead and start heading on back, we'll come home later." Ichigo explained.

Isshin looked up and saw Rukia. He understood immediately and said, "Alright, that's fine." He, Yuzu, and Karin began to leave the cemetery.

Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy walked to where Rukia was waiting and greeted her. She asked, "How was it?"

Bennett said, "It went as expected, although our dad kept acting like a fool the entire time. We may be used to him doing that, but it'll always be annoying." He let out a huff at the end of his sentence, knowing that the elder Kurosaki would never change his ways.

"I'm sorry about your mother. From what I have heard around your house, she must have been an amazing woman. You must miss her very much." said Rukia. All of the brothers looked down at their feet, not wanting to look her in the face.

"Yeah, she really was." murmured Randy. Sometimes it was hard to talk about Masaki in front of other people.

Rukia wanted to know something though. "I don't want to sound insensitive to you three, but was she sick or did an accident happen? " She knew they didn't talk about it, but from what she could understand, it must not have happened from natural causes.

Immediately, the three of them looked up and at each other with an unsaid message being sent between them. Ichigo spoke up, "You helped save our family and have become a good friend of ours so it's only right that you know. To be fair, we never really knew the truth of what happened until recently and I was the last one with her and blamed myself for her death."

Randy cut in, "We told him not to do that to himself, but he didn't listen to us. When Ichigo and our mother were walking home six years ago, Ichigo saw a young girl jump into the river and tried to save her. Then a Hollow attacked them. She protected Ichigo with her body, keeping him from harm. But she was not so lucky and she was killed."

The powerless Soul Reaper was shocked. She did not expect that to be the reason their mother wasn't around anymore. "I-I didn't know. I wish you didn't have to go through that at all, you three did not deserve that."

The boys smiled slightly at hearing someone comfort them. "Thank you, Rukia, You're a good friend, we appreciate you trying to comfort us... but it's all in the past. Plus, we might never kill the Hollow that killed her considering we don't know what it looked like." said Bennett.

Rukia's Soul Pager went off a couple seconds after he said that. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. "Hollow entering! It's coming in right... here?" She was confused at the location of the Hollow

The boys pulled out their Soul Candies and popped them into their mouths, knocking them into their Soul forms. "Alright, you know what to do. Kon, Hikaru, Hasashi, keep our sisters away from this." said Bennett.

"Got it." the Mod-Souls affirmed. They quickly left the area to follow the boys' family and keep them safe.

A Garganta opened up in the cemetery and a grotesque Hollow jumped out of the black void of nothingness. It looked around until it settled its eyes on the Soul Reapers and grinned. Rukia recognized the Hollow right away.

"That's not just any Hollow, you three, that's Grand Fisher! He has been terrorizing the World of the Living and killing Soul Reapers for many years, but has never been purified nor has anyone come close to finishing him off! His main targets are women! Be careful!" she shouted.

Grand Fisher was an ugly son of a bitch. He had green fur covering his body and hamster-like hands and feet. An extension sprouted out from the top of his head, similar to a fishing lure. His bone mask's teeth were settled in a hideous smile and red markings in the shape of lips surrounded his teeth.

"That's Grand Fisher? That's the bastard who murdered our mother? Then he won't be living much longer if we have anything to say about it! He dies by our hands today!" screamed Ichigo.

Rukia stumbled at the words she was hearing. 'Wait... they're saying Grand Fisher was the Hollow that killed their mother? No way!' Why didn't they tell her? She would have tried to help them find closure if it was possible.

But the boys didn't wait for her to say anything. They attacked Grand Fisher without hesitation. She screamed in horror, "ICHIGO! BENNETT! RANDY! NO!"

* * *

"Do you understand what we are attempting to do, Nelliel?" said Tia to the former Third Espada. She had explained the situation to her predecessor in a lengthy discussion. Now she wanted to know if Nel was onboard with this.

Nel replied, "Yes, I do. And I'm joining you. Aizen may have given us this power, but he is by no means a good person. He expects us to be tools for him and nothing else. Plus, most of the other Arrancars are bloodthirsty, fanatics, twisted in their minds, or characterized with some other negative trait and I cannot stand being around them." Going unsaid between the both of them was that they wanted to see their confidantes again.

Tia nodded and told her to stay in a close, but not too close, proximity to Las Noches so that if they had to get out fast, they could meet up quickly and open a Garganta to Karakura Town in order to escape. She also told Nel that the next time she talked with Bennett, she would reveal the truth of what she was and who they were defecting from and that Nel should do the same.

The two groups parted ways with each other and headed back the way they came. Tia and her Fracciones went back to Las Noches while Nel and her comrades headed in another direction to a different part of Hueco Mundo.

During the journey, Sung-Sun asked, "You really love the boy you were telling Master Nelliel about, don't you?"

"More than anything, Sung-Sun. Let's get back to the fortress before the other Espada begin questioning why we were gone."

* * *

While Karin was walking with her family back to their house, she began thinking, 'What did I see that night? I know I saw something. I'm not certain, but for a moment, I thought I saw Bennett, Randy, and Ichigo in black kimonos holding swords and fighting a masked monster.'

If that was what she saw, then she was worried for her brothers. Karin did not want them to get hurt protecting her and Yuzu, but she somehow knew that they would be just fine.

Hearing a sound coming from behind them, she saw a large furry creature stumbling in the clearing and being attacked by three figures. When she saw the people launching attacks on the monster, her eyes widened.

Blond hair, orange hair, and a multicolored mohawk. The hair could only belong to her brothers. They were slashing at the beast and leaving deep, bleeding wounds on its body. And they were dressed in black kimonos just like before.

She could only look on in shock and awe as they battled the monster and began to trap it in a triangle formation., ready to end its life. 'Get him, you guys.'

Out of the corner of his eye, Bennett saw his younger sister looking at them doing their job. He smirked. "Nowhere to run, Grand Fisher. This is payback, you stupid hamster."

The Hollow was confused at what he said. **"For what, Soul Reaper?"**

"For killing our mother!" Ichigo roared.

It clicked for Grand Fisher. **"You're the sons of that woman I killed! But she wasn't my target, I was going after the redhead because of his spirit energy!"**

"...What? So she was just collateral damage to you?! When you could not get to me, you decided to kill her instead! Rrraaaggghhh!"

The Hollow knew he had a very slim chance of getting out alive when Ichigo began raging after he heard what Grand Fisher said, so he resorted to a dirty trick. He revealed a familiar woman to the brothers on his lure...

Masaki Kurosaki.

The image of their mother began to tell them that it would make her sad if they attacked her. They looked down at their feet in response and it looked as if Grand Fisher had found their weakness and would get away cleanly...

SLICE!

Grand Fisher fell backward at the sight of the raven-haired brother slashing through the false manifestation of their mother. He was in absolute shock. **"You would slash through your own mother just to kill me?!"**

The tallest boy laughed darkly when he said that. "That cheap imitation is not our mother, nice try though. I'm guessing that your lure makes false images of humans to draw your unsuspecting victims in, and then you devour them. That's probably what my brother saw that day by the river, it was your damn lure! Cheap tricks are not going to help you escape Judgement Day for you, Grand Fisher!" he responded.

Randy growled out, "Let's finish him." They rushed him without warning and cut through him, their swords hitting their target. The Hollow vanished into thin air, ending his reign of terror forever. They slumped to their knees, relieved that their mother could finally rest knowing her death had been avenged and her killer destroyed.

Rukia ran up to them, saying, "You guys okay?" They waved off her concerns, telling her they were fine. Treading carefully to not seem rude or uncaring, she asked, "So how are you feeling, knowing that your mother's killer is no longer running about?"

Ichigo sighed. "It feels like we're in a better state of mind knowing that fact, but at the same time, it doesn't change anything. She's still dead and nothing can bring her back." He looked up and gained a small smile as if Masaki was looking down from the heavens and waving to them. "Still, she would be proud of us, of who we are no matter what. And that's good enough for me."

Randy patted his brother's back. "We kept our family safe, Ichigo. Of course she would. She's always with us though, just remember that, bro."

They hopped back into their bodies, but not before promising the Mod-Souls to find a temporary body so they could roam around freely. They caught back up with their family and headed home.

Karin was discreetly stealing glances at Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett the whole way back. She kept thinking how badass they looked destroying that monster and it made her wonder if she also was able to do what they did. They noticed her doing it, but did not understand what it was about and just shrugged.

When they reached home, they had a talk with their father about the events of that afternoon, out of the earshot of the younger Kurosakis. It wasn't long, just enough to discuss it a little bit.

"So you three killed Grand Fisher?" asked Isshin who was curious as to if they felt any better than before.

"Yeah. Hey, Dad? Do you think that she might be in Soul Society? I'm just curious to how it works, would we be able to find Mom there?" questioned Bennett.

The scruffy man held up a hand to stop them. "I figured you might try to ask a question like that. To be honest, I'm not sure, not even Urahara knows for sure and he has an intellect like no other. Your mother's case was unique. According to Kisuke, Quincy souls don't enter the Cycle of Rebirth often, it's rare that this event occurs. It happens because they destroy Hollows and to keep balance, the Cycle, which is controlled by the Soul King, erases the offending Quincy's soul if their kill count is high enough. But remember, your mother was infected by a unusual Hollow that became part of your Zanpakuto and I linked my soul with hers to prevent her from undergoing soul suicide. When she was killed by Grand Fisher, it's possible that her soul was devoured by him and became part of him because she was infected by Hollow spirit energy. If that's true, then when you purified him, all the souls he had consumed were released from his grasp, including your mother's, and sent on to the Soul Society." he finished.

"So if we ever go there, we can talk with her and spend some time together, right?" asked Ichigo. Isshin looked pained when he heard that question and his strawberry blond son noticed. "What's wrong? What aren't you telling us?" Ichigo questioned his father.

"Boys, the thing with the Cycle of Rebirth is that all the souls that are sent on to Soul Society is that they are given a clean slate, although we're not sure about if the same thing happens with souls that become Hollows, and it's extremely rare for a soul to recall their time in the World of the Living, and even these souls don't remember everything about their past lives. But again, what happened to your mother was unusual and unique." He sighed at having to tell something so heartbreaking to his children. "What I am trying to say is that if there is a chance Masaki is in Soul Society, then she may very well not remember who you are."

The brothers looked downtrodden and stared at their feet, some of their hopes squashed likes bugs in the streets. But they held on to a little bit of hope that they might see their mom again someday in Soul Society and she would remember who they were.

"It's okay, but in all honesty, we're going to cling on the tiny bit of hope that she is there and will know us. Gotta have hopes and dreams or else you won't get very far in life, right?" sadly chuckled Randy. He was right about that, achieving a goal or dream could make you do things you never thought you could do or was possible, it was part of what defined who you were as a person.

Bennett dejectedly whispered, "I still miss her though." Then the faux-gangster went up to his for the night without saying another word.

"We all do, and that's never going to change for any of us, bro."

* * *

In her soulmate's Inner World, Tia was conversing quietly with Bennett's Zanpakuto spirits, more specifically his stark white doppelganger, about a very important topic that she felt the time had come to tell their partner about: What she was and the man who had, in a sense, "enlisted" her.

The Hollow/Soul Reaper spirit had already figured out what she was based on her spiritual pressure and told the Quincy manifestation about it, making him promise not to reveal it to Bennett until she felt the time was right. They did tell her they knew much earlier than she had realized and assured her that her love wouldn't shun her, even if she used to work for Aizen.

When she asked how they were sure, the bleached copy had smiled and simply said, _**"You make him happy. Not only that, but just like his brothers, Bennett's unique and you already know how so."**_

Now she was making the decision to tell him everything, but she was freaking out somewhat. "I don't know if I should do this, you two. I don't want him to react badly to hearing about Aizen and how I was his subordinate, even if I am still in the process of defecting with my friends and Nel. God, I hope she is handling this better than I am."

_"Heh, don't fret, Tia. We know how the guy thinks, he looks past a person's looks and affiliations, it won't matter to him that you are an Arrancar or a follower of that bastard. I mean, we are reflections of him after all, so we know what we're talking about. The dumbass may not show it as much as other guys might for their girlfriends, but he cares about you so much and would bear the weight of the sky on his shoulders if it meant seeing you happy and not crying or upset."_ chirped the redheaded spirit.

Tia gained a small smile at hearing how much she meant to Bennett from his hotheaded Quincy spirit. Then she sported a perplexed look on her face at the exact wording of what he said to her. "I know... but what's with that description of what he would do? It's a little specific... and odd."

He gained a shit eating grin and laughed. _"Oh, you picked up on that, did you? There's a book series that Bennett's obsessed with and the main protagonist did that exact feat in one of the books. It's one of the most popular book series ever written. Hey, Shugetsu, I need a dam soda!"_ he called out to the Hollow spirit, chortling with barely contained amusement.

Shugetsu snickered. He saw where his Quincy counterpart was going with this and he was going to enjoy it. _**"I want some dam pizza! And a dam hot dog! Hehehe..."**_

_"Hey, let's go to a dam bar, I want to get hammered with some dam shots! HA!"_

**_"And I need a new dam t-shirt, HAHAHAHA!"_**

The banter slowly evolved into full-blown laughter, with both spirits struggling to breathe. Tia shook her head in exasperation. "I'm guessing that's also from the book series."

Their giggling and laughing finally died down and Shugetsu told her, _**"Yeah, it's a joke from the third book. Anyways, you ready to tell him?"**_

She breathed out and made her decision. "I am, wish me luck." She walked to meet Bennett where they usually met in his Inner World.

* * *

Contrary to how the current Third Espada was handling her decision, Nel had an easier time with her decision. She had already talked with Ready's spirits and they told her to go ahead and not hide it any longer since they felt she was the best thing to ever happen to him and they knew Randy didn't want to lose her.

She was in the midst of their conversation when she felt it was the right time. "Randy?" she asked. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What's wrong, Nel?" He felt she was about to tell him something important. He had a feeling it had something to do with the mask fragment on top of her head. He startied wondering if she was going to tell him if she used to be a Hollow because, well, her fragment had a striking similarity to a Hollow's mask.

Nel began to fidget with her hands nervously. "Randii, you know I love you. But I haven't told you everything about myself and who I am... what I am." She prepared to get it over with, like ripping off a bandage. "This mask fragment on my head, well, it's the fragment of my mask from when I was a Hollow. Randy, I used to be a Vasto Lorde class Hollow and I lived in Hueco Mundo, the home of all Hollows. A Vasto Lorde didn't need to fear regressing into a lesser, more primal class because it _was_ the highest state of evolution for a Hollow. But a man came to my world some time ago and helped us evolve to a state of higher being using a device called the Hogyoku. Many different Hollows then became Arrancars, Hollows that have achieved human-like forms and gained Soul Reaper powers by removing their masks. This is what I am now, an Arrancar, a Hollow-Soul Reaper hybrid, and so is Tia. I didn't want you to hate me because of my species, I was afraid of you rejecting me and that's why I never told you. Tia fears the same thing with your brother."

"Nel, I already had a suspicion that you used to be a Hollow since the skull on your head was reminiscent of a Hollow's mask and my mentor Kisuke explained about prejudices about you and Tia's species, but it never mattered to me. I love you, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, no matter what you are or used to be." Randy told her, getting rid of her fears.

However, she wasn't finished. She prepared for the last part of her confession. "There's more. The man that helped us evolve, he's a Soul Reaper that wanted to kill the Soul King to change the World of the Living and Soul Society forever. I used to be part of his army and one of his top soldiers, an Espada, the Third Espada in fact. That's what the Arrancars are, his personal army. However, I was attacked and cast out by another Espada, I reverted to the form of a child and lost my memories, but my adult conscience remained locked inside of me and aware of everything. According to Tia, she became my successor as the Third Espada. Meanwhile, I wandered the desert with my former Fracciones for quite a bit of time. That is, until right before we met right now. Tia found me and helped me regain my adult form and memories. She explained to me that she knew the Soul Reaper was only going to use the Arrancars as disposable tools and discard us when we were no longer useful to him, and she wanted to defect to be with Bennett because she was scared that you three would be killed if he believed you were no longer of interest or use to him. And I'm afraid of this too. He's dangerous beyond belief and extremely powerful. His name is—"

"Sosuke Aizen." the blond growled. He knew immediately who Nel was talking about after a little bit into her story.

She looked down in depression. "So you know who he is. This was the other thing I was afraid of telling you, I thought you would think that I was like him and would not want to be around me anymore." She began to tear up a little at the thought.

Once again, Randy proved her wrong. He gave her a hug and lightly kissed her tears away. "That doesn't matter. I can already tell you're not like him, you're kind, gentle, and sweet, he's power-hungry, manipulative, and uncaring. I won't judge you based on what others have done or who you were associated with. Your actions matter much more to me than anything else. Please don't cry anymore, Nel. I don't want to see you cry."

Nel slowly calmed down and they sat down in a patch of grass by the ruins of his Inner World. He pulled her close to him and held her in his arms, staying like that and letting his actions speak for themselves.

"Thank you, Randy. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that." She snuggled into his chest, feeling the warmth of his muscular body.

"You are the world to me. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

* * *

Tia stood in front of Bennett with her white jacket unzipped and mask fragment showing to him. She had started their usual talk telling him she had to show and tell him something and started unzipping her top. At first he thought she was going to initiate something they both weren't ready for and tried to tell her they were not ready for that yet, then he saw the bone covering her breasts and immediately stopped talking.

He saw her entire face for the first time and thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever met, but that wasn't important right now. Unfortunately, the look on her face said that she felt guilty and ashamed of hiding this from him. "That's part of a Hollow mask, isn't it? Tia, did you used to be a Hollow? If that's why you are looking at me like you're ashamed, then don't be. It doesn't make a difference to me, I don't care about that. You're still the same beautiful girl I first met all those weeks ago." he reassured her, but she still felt like she had betrayed his trust.

Tia said, "Bennett, I never told you what I am. I am an Arrancar, an evolved Vasto Lorde class Hollow that has gained the powers of a Soul Reaper by removing my mask. A Soul Reaper helped us attain this evolved state with a device he invented. I became the replacement in his army for Nel, who was the third strongest, but he only sees us Arrancars as pawns in his game to end the Soul King, and I am afraid of him and don't trust him at all. I want to defect from his side because I want to be with you and the Arrancars are replaceable at any time and disposable to him. I think he also had something to do with you, Randy and Ichigo being hybrids of Soul Reapers, Hollows and Quincies. I never told you any of this because I feared you would hate me simply for being a Hollow and subordinate of the man who had a hand in you being a hybrid, but I don't want to lose you if he decides you're not useful to him anymore."

"The Soul Reaper's name is Sosuke Aizen. I know his name because he's the one that sent the Hollow that infected my mother and gave us our Hollow Zanpakuto. My father explained the circumstances already. It's okay and I'll tell you why. Did you send that Hollow after my parents? No. Are you Aizen? No. Did you kill my mother? No. You're a good person, you've done nothing wrong and if Soul Society says otherwise, then damn them all to Hell. You're the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you, Tia. Don't ever forget that." He grasped her delicate hands in his own and tenderly kissed her forehead.

Tia blushed and wrapped her arms around him. She took his words to heart and made a promise to herself that day: She would always protect the man who saw past what she was and who she was associated with.

No one would hurt him ever again.

No one.

* * *

**Well, that chapter's complete. Remember to read and review, but no flaming please.**

**How'd you guys like that little Percy Jackson reference I tossed in there? I thought it'd be funny since Randy and Bennett's Zanpakutos were essentially born from the same Hollow that Ichigo's Zangetsu was and they're kind of the same spirit, just part of three different people, and I personally believe that if the real Zangetsu wasn't suppressed from the start and Ichigo knew who he really was, Zangetsu would have a great sense of humor, so Hollow Shugetsu would think the Dam joke from the Percy Jackson books is downright hilarious and so would Quincy Shugetsu. Just a little humor on my part.**

**Crash, out**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back with another chapter, so let's get into it.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

Ichigo and his brothers were occupied with their current task of training with Kisuke and Yoruichi at the Urahara Shop. He was teaching them how to unlock their Shikai and it was taking a while for them to do so. However, the way he was teaching them was simply him and the flirtatious were-cat attacking them to force them to complete the task or die trying.

When they had approached the former Soul Reapers to ask for help in getting stronger to defeat Aizen and keep their family and soulmates safe, the inhabitants of the store agreed but Kisuke told them they would have to follow all their directions since attaining Shikai and Bankai was no easy feat. They said yes and followed him through the shop and down into his underground training area. He knocked them out of their bodies with his cane, which was somehow similar to Rukia's special glove, and laid down the ground rules: He would be handling Bennett and Randy while Yoruichi would train with Ichigo. He then gained a knowing and mischievous glint in his eye aimed at the both of them. She was caught off-guard momentarily and looked at him strangely before rolling her eyes and attacking the sputtering teen with a feline smirk.

Kisuke jumped into action against his opponents, thinking that he would need to use his own Shikai against the two boys to push them to their limits. He didn't start off with it, but he was able to fend off both of them without resorting to releasing it. He was a former Stealth Force member and captain after all, so he believed Randy and Bennett would benefit from fighting him with his sealed Zanpakuto.

"Really, Hat-and-Clogs? Trying to go after the mohawk? Just because you have that stupid hat covering your head and dumb haircut doesn't give you the right to shave my own haircut straight off with your sword!" Bennett yelled after a particularly close call with his hair almost getting sliced in half.

"You wound me, Bennett. I think my hair and hat look good on me, don't you thi— woah!" Kisuke narrowly dodged an upwards slash that nearly nicked his hat. "Hey! Watch the hat, it's one of my defining traits!" he whined.

Randy snorted. "Boohoo, cry me a river. Your defining traits are you being a perverted and shady man, that hat is nothing special. Now c'mere so I can put my foot up your ass!" He charged in and started swinging to cut the shopkeeper.

Yoruichi wasn't exactly going all-out on Ichigo, but he was starting to push her a little harder than she expected. 'Ichigo's improving, his strikes are coming closer and closer to connecting with each swing. I might have to kick it up a notch.' She started punching and kicking harder and faster. Pretty soon, Ichigo was on the defense trying to block her attacks with his katana and it worked for a little bit until she yelled, "Shunko!"

The former leader of the Stealth Force used her signature technique against the Strawberry and connected an enhanced punch into his gut and chest, knocking him back into the ground, the lightning shredding the top of his shihakusho and his mask in a freak accident. When he got up from the ground and stood to his full height, her mouth went dry at the sight of him.

Let it never be said Ichigo Kurosaki wasn't in shape. In fact, he was extremely fit and it was the same with his brothers. They took care of themselves and Yoruichi Shihoin could see the results for herself, her eyes going wide at seeing him shirtless and starting to blush and feel like a giddy schoolgirl. He sported a well-defined eight-pack and his pectorals looked like bricks on his chest. The rest of his muscles were just as equally developed as well. She noticed the muscles on his arms from the sleeveless top, but didn't think he had anything to show for underneath it. 'God, those muscles... Berry-boy is cut like a god! Calm down girl, you're supposed to get him flustered, not the other way around.'

He also had a number of tattoos covering his torso. A series of tribal designs encircled his neck and was situated on his shoulders. A scene with a flaming skeleton holding a chain and scythe in Hell was on his back and an Asian dragon rode along his left ribs. On the right side of his ribs, Ichigo had a Spartan warrior holding a spear and shield inked there and to top it all off, his stomach had a metal Terminator skull with half of his own face on the left half of the skull.

Yoruichi hadn't known that Ichigo had gotten himself some ink, but... 'Damn, I can't stop staring at him! It's like looking at a male supermodel, even his tattoos make him look hot!'

Ichigo, however, stood up slowly to his full height and cracked his neck. 'Well that happened. Hey, you two. How come I still haven't unlocked my Shikai yet? What gives?'

The Hollow side of his Zanpakuto cackled. _**"You think it's that simple, don't you? King, open your eyes and figure out what you're fighting for. You always boast about how you are going to protect everyone and all that shit. You need to realize what it takes to protect what you want to protect. You're not getting our Shikai until you get your head out of your ass and realize that!"**_

The youth was reasonably annoyed with his copy. 'What the hell do mean, you cryptic bastard?!'

The old man in his head decided to give some advice for him. _"Ichigo, do you remember when your mother died, what she did for you?"_

He thought back to the night of her death. They both had seen Grand Fisher's lure and she tried to stop him from going to it. He blacked out afterward and found her lifeless body laying on top of him. She had protected him from being eaten by the Hollow, sacrificing her very existence to keep him alive...

It hit him like a freight train. What they were trying to tell and make him realize was that he needed the resolve to protect everyone he cared about. He needed to put his life on the line to save others, he had to sacrifice himself for the protection of his loved ones or otherwise it would be meaningless. No matter the cost, losing a limb, getting injured or killed, he had to preserve his friends and family's lives. It was as simple as that.

'I understand now. To truly protect, I must put my life on the chopping block and have the resolve to win my battles. No matter what may happen to me whether it be injury or death, nothing will stop me.' Ichigo firmly asserted his intentions to his spirits.

His lookalike grinned insanely and nodded, satisfied with the answer. _**"Then call out our name, Ichigo!"**_

The young man shouted out loud enough for the others to hear, "ZANGETSU!" A burst of a massive amount of spiritual pressure erupted from the replacement Soul Reaper as well as a large gust of wind blowing through the training grounds, and his katana released from its sealed state into its Shikai state.

When the wind died down, Ichigo had his mask and top back in place and undamaged like the Shunko-enhanced punches never hit him, but his sword had changed. Instead of a single weapon, there were now two, a large sword and small knife. The sword was essentially an oversized Khyber knife, completely black in color and having a hollowed-out section of the blade running along the back. There was no guard and the tang was wrapped in bandages for Ichigo to grip. The knife was similar to a trench knife, also black in color, but had a curved guard on the edge side protecting the wrapped tang.

The Strawberry looked at his Zanpakutos and liked what he saw. "Oi, Yoruichi, Kisuke, what do you think?" he called out to his trainers.

The fighting between his brothers and Urahara stopped and the man walked over and looked at Ichigo's weapons. "Well, well. Dual Zanpakuto. You're the third Soul Reaper to ever have two Zanpakutos. I wonder... Ichigo, ask both Zangetsus about why you have two blades, I have a theory and it might affect your brothers as well."

Ichigo asked his spirits, 'Before we get to that, I need to give you names. I can't call both of you Zangetsu, it would just lead to confusion. Quincy Zangetsu, since you seem to look like you're much older than me and the poor excuse for an albino—'

_**"Hey!"**_ interrupted the other half of Zangetsu, indignant at being referred to as such.

Ichigo ignored him. 'I'll call you Old Man and my Hollow spirit Zangetsu. You're still both Zangetsu to me, it doesn't matter if he is my Soul Reaper and Hollow powers and you are my Quincy powers, this is just so we don't get mixed up or confused.'

Old Man Zangetsu hummed in agreement, pleased that they had a wielder who accepted both parts of them. _"It is a good suggestion and I do not mind it at all."_ If Ichigo accepting all aspects of his soul was any indication, it was of his brothers most certainly doing the same since they were similar to each other in many ways.

Zangetsu couldn't find any flaws in the logic. _**"Eh, I'm fine with it. As for Hat Man's question, you have two Zanpakutos because of you having Quincy, Soul Reaper, and Hollow powers. The knife represents your Quincy powers, which is the old fart, and the sword is the representation of your Soul Reaper/Hollow powers, which is yours truly."**_ he explained to his partner.

_"Although I do not appreciate being called an 'old fart' and will ignore that comment, Zangetsu is correct. What your mentor is possibly theorizing is the possibility of your brothers also having two Zanpakutos if my assumption is accurate."_

Ichigo thanked his spirits and explained what they had told him to Kisuke. The information simply confirmed his suspicions on why the teen had two weapons. "That reaffirms what I've been thinking. Alright, can you reseal your swords, Ichigo? We can train with its abilities another time. But right now, I need to give you boys some information; Aizen most likely already has been watching the town for a while with surveillance, but I have made sure he cannot spy into the shop or the Vizards' hideout, or detect any spiritual pressure coming from those two locations. Unfortunately, I could not risk doing the same with your house or other areas you frequent like your school since that would reveal to him we knew he's watching you three and Karakura Town. We don't want to give him the knowledge that you've gotten your Shikai. In the meantime, I'll continue training Randy and Bennett until they achieve their Shikai. But I'll also ask you two to seal your weapons once you have unlocked your released sword forms," he told the three brothers. "Ichigo, you can use the healing hot spring in another section of the training grounds to heal and recover for a little bit."

The redhead said, "Sounds fine to me. Tell me how everything goes, you guys." as he walked off towards the area with the springs. Yoruichi was still a little flushed from seeing his godly physique and quietly trailed behind him, needing to recover herself a bit since he had pushed her farther than she thought he would... and hopefully get back at and tease Ichigo for making her flustered in the first place.

When they were both out of sight, Kisuke began to snicker quietly. "Oh, those two really have their work cut out for them. He may be a bit dense when it comes to women, but she has no idea just how far the extent of her relationship with him goes or will go. It's like they were made for each other, the blushy false delinquent and the flirty princess," he chuckled after he got a sneaky idea in his head. "This is perfect blackmail material."

When he turned around to resume Bennett and Randy's training, they were smirking at him like they knew something he didn't. "Is there something you two aren't telling me?"

Recalling their conversation with Ichigo after the first time they met him, Yoruichi, and Tessai, they simultaneously said, "Wouldn't you like to know."

* * *

Ichigo undressed and put his shihakusho and sealed katana to the side, trying to be a little gentle with the lightning burns on his torso as he eased into the water slowly. It was a warm temperature, perfect for curing ailments when needed or simply rejuvenating the body and returning lost energy. 'Kisuke may be a loon, but this definitely is one of his better achievements.' However, he didn't notice the Shihoin princess slowly walking up to him.

"How's the water, Ichigo?" she asked.

He replied, "It's not too bad. I'll tell you this; Kisuke knows what he's doing when it comes to inventing and this is one thing he definitely got right." He sat in the water thinking about nothing in particular.

She said out of the blue, "Good, because I'm gonna join you." She smirked as she began stripping off her clothes, which left Ichigo in a state of shock.

"WHAT?! Hey, you can't just do that!" he sputtered in embarrassment. He blushed and looked away as she slid into the water.

"Ooh, that's nice." Yoruichi moaned as she felt the warm water covering her body. She smiled seductively as she saw him still covering his eyes. "You can look now, I'm not going to bite... unless you want me to."

Ichigo slowly uncovered his vision to see if she was under the water and she was. He mentally sighed in relief. He decided to break the ice by asking a question. "You never really said what you did as a Soul Reaper. My dad told me that Kisuke was the head of the Department of Research and Development and captain of Squad 12 and Tessai was the commander of the Kido Corps, but he never said what you did."

She smiled. "That's easy, I was captain of Squad 2 and the Head of the Stealth Force, which is basically the Soul Society's black ops unit. Interrogations, assassinations, covert ops, you name it, we did it." Yoruichi reminisced about the days where she was one of the top days. However, the smile lessened when she remembered someone from her past and Ichigo noticed it.

"You left someone behind when Aizen framed you guys, didn't you?"

She sighed in sadness. "Yes, a good friend. My first student actually, Soifon. She was my bodyguard at first, then she became one of the closest friends I had outside of Kisuke and Tessai. I trained her in almost everything. When we had to flee the Soul Society, I couldn't take her. God, I wanted to so bad but there was a reason why. I needed her to grow on her own outside of my shadow, plus I didn't want her to become caught up in everything that happened with Aizen and us leaving to hide in the World of the Living. I still miss her everyday, she was like family to me." A tear trailed down her cheek.

Ichigo cheered her up, "I know we're not the same as Soifon, but you're like family to us, especially me. I cannot thank you enough for helping with achieving Shikai. If there's anything I can help you with, within reason of course, just let me know."

Yoruichi hugged him tightly in response, trying to quell the warm feeling in her chest when she heard what he said. "Thanks, Ichi."

Wrapping his arms around her, he said, "Anytime, Yoruichi."

They stayed like that for quite a bit of time. Then both of them got out of the water, got changed in their clothes, and walked back to Kisuke and Ichigo's brothers. All three of them were slightly panting, signifying that they had gotten in a good session of training. Kisuke had his Shikai released and it was humming with red energy.

Urahara grinned. "You are some scary kids, you know that? You two are pushing me very far in my Shikai release state, that's hard to do." Without warning, a device went off in his pocket and he picked it up and answered it. "Hello? Slow down, Rukia, what's wrong? Wait... who approached you? And he said... are you sure? Okay, I understand, I'm sending them right now." He hung up and looked the boys straight in their eyes. "Your cousin, Uryu, just encountered Miss Kuchiki and said he knows she and you boys are Soul Reapers and that he wants to talk to you three."

They looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing what Ishida's intentions were but thinking he had something important to speak to them about. Randy nodded. "Sure, we'll go. Hey Bennett, can you track them by their spiritual pressures?"

"Just a second... got it, they are by the park." said the raven-haired teen. They ran out of the shop and Flash Stepped toward the area where Bennett said they were.

Kisuke looked towards his long-time friend with a sly grin. "How was sitting in the hot spring with Ichigo? He blushed when you were in there with him, I know that much."

She sighed, "Yeah... We ended up talking about the past and he told me I was like family to him." She still couldn't get rid of the nice feeling that sentence brought to her insides.

He decided to help Ichigo out a little bit. "He really is a one-of-a-kind guy, any woman would be lucky to have him."

Yoruichi was thinking something a bit different. 'Those girls better stay away from my Ichigo! Wait... why am I considering him 'mine'? It's not like I'm his girlfriend...' She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.

Her fellow exile gave a tiny smile. 'He's already got a special place in her heart. She's got feelings for him and doesn't even realize it.' He frowned however when a stray, unpleasant thought hit him. 'Let's just hope that Aizen is not watching the park when they meet up. That wouldn't be good.'

* * *

The brothers made their way towards the park, each of them contemplating on why exactly Uryu wanted to talk with and why he used Rukia to get in contact with them. All they could come up with was that he wanted them to back off of taking care of the Hollows in Karakura Town, but the theory wasn't solid. So why would he need to meet with them?

They came up on the park and dropped down into the area. Spotting Rukia and a bespectacled teen with black hair and in their school uniform, they walked over and stopped in front of them, saying hello to her as they did so. They stared down Ishida and he stared right back, waiting for each other to break the silence.

"Ichigo, Bennett, Randy, you came." said Uryu. He pushed up his glasses and continued looking at them.

Ichigo immediately replied, "So you're Uryu Ishida, a Quincy. Since Rukia never said why you wanted to meet with us, I have to guess you never told her why. Now spill." They had to act like they didn't know who their cousin was so that the three of them could confirm Uryu's intentions, but none of them liked doing it.

"It's about some information I just received, information about my familial relations having something to do with you three." he said cryptically.

Inwardly, they were grinning. So he wanted to talk about their relations and basically get to know them. Deciding to mess with him a little, Bennett said, "What exactly are you talking about? I'm pretty sure we would know about something like that."

Uryu quickly figured out what they were doing and decided to play along. "I thought you would have known... cousin." He smirked at the end, letting the brothers know he caught on to Bennett's little joke.

Ichigo, Bennett, and Randy begin smirking as well at the confirmation. The newly revealed cousins began laughing after a couple of seconds.

After they stopped, Ichigo smiled and said, "Man, I have been waiting for you to say that. So your father finally told you, huh?"

Uryu nodded. "He told me everything."

Rukia was a bit shocked at the information. "You three are Quincies?!" This was news to her.

"Our mother was, our dad's not. Sorry we didn't tell you, but it was only revealed to us right after we met you for the first time. We didn't want to reveal it ourselves unless it was necessary." apologized Randy.

She couldn't fault them for that, they didn't know how she would react to it. Though she was glad they told her sooner rather than later.

Her Soul Pager went off and she pulled it out and checked the orders. "Orders just came in... no way! This can't be right! A massive horde of Hollows is coming to the town!" she yelled in worry.

The four boys' heads shot up and looked at her. All of them then felt the spiritual pressures of hundreds of Hollows appearing from everywhere. The monsters began appearing in droves, swarming to the park where the five were at.

Uryu readied his bow and his cousins pulled out their Zanpakuto. "Get ready, here they come!" They jumped into action, slaying the creatures as they approached them.

The "Last Quincy" fired off arrow after arrow to destroy the Hollows coming after them. Eventually, he cleared a portion of them to give some breathing room for himself, Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett since the three hybrids were close range fighters, albeit only a small opening. However, it was enough to get them going into a frenzy, slashing, slicing, and cutting any unfortunate Hollow that came into their path.

Pure chaos came after. Uryu slaughtered any creatures fleeing the scene and trying to escape from them, Ichigo cut off the heads of the ones brave enough to attack him, Bennett used Flash Step to move around the battlefield quickly and cleave many of them in half at the chest, and Randy vanished and reappeared in front of them, slashing downward towards their heads and splitting the mask and body in two. Agonizing screaming could be heard as Hollows died at the hands of the demons cutting them down.

The rest that were still alive and kicking let out a screech that sounded they were calling for something. As if the Devil himself responded, a black rip in the sky appeared and three sets of large white hands came out and began pulling the tear apart. Soon, three large Hollow masks came into view, shocking Rukia when she saw them.

"Those are Menos Grande class Hollows! You're not ready to take them on, you'll get killed!" she shrieked.

The Hollows' masks were white with glowing red eyes, segmented teeth, and a long nose with holes in it. They were also covered in black cloaks that wrapped around their entire bodies, leaving the hands and boot-like feet exposed. All three of the monstrous Hollows stepping out of their respective portals and slowly walking in the direction of their fellow Hollows and their prey.

The boys just looked at each other and gained large grins. "Finally some entertainment!" they yelled in glee. Jumping up into the air with a large amount of force behind their legs, they stopped in front of the Hollows and let out an extremely large amount of Hollowfied spiritual pressure, which caused the present beasts to realize they had bitten off more than they could chew.

However, the Menos Grandes simply stared at the three. Since Menos Grande level Hollows of that specific class were ruled by their primal instincts and nothing more than mostly large, unintelligent animals, the huge Hollows were in fear of something more dangerous than them: Three apex predators. They were rooted in their spot from their fear and sense of self-preservation.

Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough for the Kurosaki brothers. Each letting out a war cry, they shot forward and slashed the masks of the Hollows hundreds of times, brutalizing the unintelligent creatures and leaving them in shambles. The beasts simply dissolved and left the other Hollows in a state of shock and fear.

The boys grinned. "So who's next?"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the town, Tatsuki and Orihime were walking together and chatting, but the spiky-haired tomboy was not entirely invested in the conversation like her friend was. She was thinking about Ichigo and how she wished she was able to help him. 'I hate being weak. He and his brothers are out there fighting those monsters and I'm stuck here doing nothing to aid them.'

"Tatsuki?"

She shook her head when she heard Orihime try to get her attention. "Oh, sorry, Hime. I was just thinking about something." she assured her friend.

"It's okay. Anyways, have you noticed that Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett have been hanging around lately with the new transfer student, Rukia? Makes me wonder what they do together," Orihime contemplated. "I bet they are going on adventures to other dimensions to discover pirate treasure and fight monsters made of red bean paste, chocolate, and bacon! I wish I could join them!" The bubbly girl had a wild imagination when it came to many things. Unfortunately, Tatsuki was usually the one who had to pop her bubble and ruin her fun since it was almost always unrealistic.

Tatsuki deadpanned. "Orihime, how did you even come to that conclusion? Actually, never mind. I don't want to know. You really need to stop coming up with all these unrealistic ideas regarding everything, it cannot be healthy for your sanity or sense of reality." she scolded her.

Orihime pouted. "You're so mean, Tatsuki!"

"Just trying to keep you centered on what's real. But yeah, they have been hanging out lately." 'And I've been stuck on the sidelines while they do their patrols.'

Unknown to both of the girls, a Hollow was sneaking up on them and hoping to devour them, but first it used one of its abilities to shoot a bunch of seeds on others around them to control the people and their movements.

Tatsuki somehow felt the presence of the Hollow and whipped around, looking straight at it. "Crap! Orihime, we need to get out of here, there's something watching us on one of the buildings!"

The naive girl turned around and saw the Hollow staring at them. "T-Tatsuki, w-what is that?" she squeaked in fear.

The Hollow had a white jellyfish body and multiple purple tentacles. It began cackling insanely in a female voice. **"Don't worry, I'm nobody important, just your executioner!"**

Tatsuki knew immediately what this thing was. "It's a Hollow, a corrupted spirit. We really need to run!" 'Of all the times to not have any spiritual powers!'

However, their exits were blocked by a bunch of people with green splotches somewhere on their bodies who were moving towards them, cutting off any hope of escape.

"Damn it, what did you do to them?!" Tatsuki yelled. The people had a look on their faces that told her they were not in control of their bodies.

**"When my seeds hit someone and explode, it gives me complete control over their bodies and they can do nothing about it. It means you're trapped and at my mercy!"** laughed the Hollow.

As the people unwittingly surrounded them, Tatsuki started cursing. "Damn everything, I hate being weak and having no power to keep myself safe. I hate it, I hate it, I HATE IT!" As she clenched her fists and yelled out in anger, her previously unknown spiritual pressure flared and a burst of electricity exploded from her body, pushing back and knocking out the approaching people.

Tatsuki looked at herself in shock. "No way... I did that? I'm no longer weak. Orihime, stay back. I don't know what I just did, but I will do it again to keep us safe!" She assumed a fighting stance and prepared to defend herself.

The Hollow looked on in intrigue. This human girl had some spiritual power... interesting. **"So you have a bit of power. Well it's not going to help you stay alive!"** She let loose more seeds at the martial artist, hoping to catch her off-guard and potentially bring the girl under her control.

Tatsuki unleashed a spread of lightning and vaporized the seeds approaching her. The Hollow continued to shoot more seeds at her and she continued to respond in kind with frying them with more electricity. She got an idea to use in counter-attacking and gathered up her power in her fist. She punched at the Hollow, unleashing a large bolt of lightning at the female Hollow, who was too shocked to dodge to attack and got hit dead on. The attack took a lot out of Tatsuki, who collapsed to her knees while completely tired and exhausted.

The attack left a cloud of smoke that covered the top of the building the Hollow was on. The smoke cleared and she could be seen with burns on her body. She screamed, **"You bitch! Just for that, I'm no longer being merciful! You will die here!"** She shot a flurry of seeds larger than before, but the tomboy was out of energy and had no way to avoid the attack.

Time to seem to go in slow motion for Orihime. She was scared. This monster had attacked them and Tatsuki had defended both of them while she stood there frozen in fear and not being able to do anything herself. 'I'm useless. Tatsuki's about to be controlled by that creature and I can't even do anything to help her. What kind of friend am I? I want to save her, but how do I do that?'

A cheery voice said in the back of her mind said to her, "Maybe the six of us can help, Orihime."

'Who are you? I'm sure I don't have any people living in my head.' she innocently asked, unaware of who she was speaking to.

An image of six small fairies appeared in her mind, each different from the others. The female sprite with blonde hair smiled at her knowingly. "We're your Shun Shun Rikka, your spiritual powers. You awakened us when you wanted to defend your best friend from the Hollow. You know our names, Orihime. Call them out."

As if she had known their names all her life, she said them without hesitation. 'Ayame, Shun'o, Baigon, Hinagiku, Lily, Tsubaki.'

"Excellent, girl. Now wield us and protect your friend." said the ninja fairy.

Orhime shouted out, "Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Her hair pins glowed and three skinny arrowheads, Baigon, Hinagiku, and Lily, shot out of them, flying in front of Tastuki and made a triangle. A glowing shield appeared in the space between the objects and the seeds disintegrated upon impact. She gained a determined look in her eye and stared down the Hollow that dared to attack her best friend.

The monster was furious and in shock. **"That's not possible, my seeds are completely gone! What are you?!"**

"You tried to hurt my friend, I cannot allow that. Koten Zanshun, I reject!" she shouted, returning her shield into her hairpins and sending a fourth arrowhead, Tsubaki, shooting at the Hollow. It shot through and split her in half, cleaving her mask in two. She vanished into nothingness, leaving no trace that she was ever there in the first place. Tsubaki vanished back into the pins and Orihime walked over to Tatsuki and crouched down to make sure she was not hurt. "Are you okay, Tatsuki?" the ditzy girl asked.

Tatsuki grunted out, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Exhausted, but good." She looked down at her right hand in concern and winced in pain. "Though I cannot say the same about my hand, it's very red. Like it's somehow been burned." True to her word, her right hand was a nice shade of cherry red and had a look to it as if it was hit by lightning, which was ironic considering that she launched a lightning bolt from her hand like Zeus himself.

Orihime got worried. "That looks bad. I think you overdid it on that attack. Here, let me heal it." she told her friend.

"No offense Hime, but I'm not sure that it is that sim—" she stopped talking as Orihime summoned Ayame and Shun'o and the sprites positioned themselves on either side of her hand. An ellipse dome covered the appendage and after a few seconds, the redness receded and disappeared completely. "Holy crap, that's amazing. There's no redness left, nothing. It's like it never happened to begin with." She flexed her hand, feeling no pain whatsoever.

Her best friend asked, "How does it feel?"

"It feels fine, but I think we should get out of here while we can. I'm not too sure if anyone saw what did."

"Okay, Tatsuki." They supported each other's weight and tried to walk home but only got a little bit away from the area they were at before they both collapsed out of exhaustion, passing out immediately.

A certain chocolate-skinned female exile could be seen walking up to the two teens and lifting them over her shoulders before Flash Stepping away to her fellow exiles' base of operations.

"Kisuke's gonna have his hands full with these two, that much is for sure."

* * *

Unfortunately for the gentle giant of the group of friends, he was busy dealing with a Hollow himself. The Hollow had ambushed him in a deserted street and begun attacking him and he tried fighting back, but he did not have the power to seriously damage it. Sado continued to punch it without results as well as avoid the swings it took at him.

He simply could not figure out why he couldn't hurt the Hollow like before when Bennett was with him and the first Hollow that attacked him. 'When I helped Bennett before, I had a lot more strength in my punches. So what's different? Is it the type of Hollow?' he questioned. 'No that can't be it. Could it be the situation? That must be it. The last time I was watching and protecting his back, but this time there's no one but myself.'

He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't paying attention to the Hollow completely and it got in a hard hit in his stomach, causing damage to his insides. He lost his breath and hunched over, allowing it to sucker punch him in the face and send him flying back into the pavement. 'So this is how I die? In the street, defeated by a Hollow. I never thought it would happen like this. Sorry Ichigo, Randii, Benetto, Abuelo.'

As the Hollow started punching him while he was in the ground and unable to fight back, he remembered what his grandfather had told him once and the promise he made to his three closest friends: How his strength, arms, and fists could be used for other than inflicting pain on others, how the four outcasts made a pact to stick together and defend each other from everything and everyone that wanted to hurt them. 'No... I won't die here, not while that promise still stands! I will use my abuelo's words to keep it intact and protect my best friends!'

Chad lifted up his arms and caught the left fist of the Hollow. His spiritual pressure spiked and a black liquid encased his right arm. His limb became black with a dark red stripe running down the middle of his arm and wing-like spikes jutting out at the wrist and shoulder. Proceeding to shove it back with such force that it fell into the ground, he got up and looked at his arm in wonder. "I don't know what just happened, but I will use my newfound power to keep my promise and stay alive for Abuelo and my friends."

As the Hollow stood up and roared at Sado, he ran toward it and threw a haymaker, unleashing a beam of energy that cut right through it. The Hollow had no idea what happened and just died on the spot. He fell to his knees and coughed up a bit of blood, signifying that his body had sustained some damage to it. The black liquid from his arm disappeared without warning.

Chad heard a trio of footsteps coming toward him and looked up. A large dark-skinned man was crouching down and looking over him to make sure he was not hurt too badly. A pair of young kids, a redheaded boy wearing shorts and a t-shirt with an annoyed look on his face and a timid black-haired girl in a t-shirt and long skirt, were standing behind the man and watching him inspect the mixed teen.

"Who are you?" asked Chad.

The man calmly answered, "I am Tessai Tsukabishi, Mr. Sado. I am an associate of your friends' mentor, Kisuke Urahara. He sent me to find you after his sensors picked up both the large amount of Hollow spiritual pressure and your own, after it was discovered." He stood up to his full height. "I need to take back to the Urahara Shop where I can heal you, you have some internal injuries." Tessai lifted Chad over his shoulder and allowed the two children to climb onto his back, Flash Stepping away a job to the store.

* * *

Ichigo, Bennett, Randy, and Uryu cut down the last of Hollows that had come out of the woodworks. No more had shown up after they purified the Menos Grandes. Now they were walking back to Urahara's store to regroup and discuss what had just happened with him.

"What do you think forced all those Hollows to just appear all of a sudden?" came the question that was on everyone's mind from the Quincy. He didn't know what exactly set off all those monsters to attack them, but based on what his father had told him about the past, he had an idea on who cut them loose: Sosuke Aizen himself. Even now he was still causing problems for them all. None of the boys answered, but they knew what their cousin was thinking.

However, Rukia was starting to have doubts on staying in the Human World with the Kurosakis. There was a law against transferring Soul Reaper powers to a human. From the information given to her by the brothers and what she felt in her soul and seen, her powers weren't simply transferred, only dormant. Her spirit energy had helped unlock their own dormant powers by being siphoned off somewhat, which had put her powers into a state of dormancy.

She really did believe what they had told her since she had proof and evidence of her own, but it was not that simple. If the Soul Society saw them, they would most likely get the wrong idea and assume she illegally transferred her powers. They would send another Soul Reaper to come get her and kill the boys she had come to call her friends. And she could not allow that.

She made her decision: She would leave tonight to keep them safe.

They reached the store, walked in, and Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett greeted Urahara and his friends. The cousins walked into the back with him and froze when they saw three familiar faces laying on the floor with blankets covering them and wet towels on their foreheads.

Randy growled out, "Kisuke, start explaining. Now."

* * *

**And that's another chapter. Things are really starting to heat up, aren't they?**

**Unfortunately, I will be in an area for sometime where I won't be able to access the Internet on my laptop, so this will be my last chapter for a bit since I now only post new chapters on my laptop. But fear not, I can still type my chapters on my phone while I'm gone. It will definitely help when I have several chapters already written and start writing on more chapters while posting the already-written chapters on my regular schedule after I come back.**

**Crash, out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, everyone. I know this chapter is a bit late coming, the vacation that I spent away from an area with reliable WiFi is over, and I'm back home in time for school, but unfortunately I was extremely busy doing other things that I didn't expect to be doing. I had to help with maintenance on parts of our summer residence, which took up a bunch of time to write on my phone (however, I did write some during my time away, so that's good news), I also started my second year of college, which originally was going to be hybrid classes but is now fully online, and I had to do the first week of schooling and schoolwork during the tail end of my vacation. Not only that but tomorrow, I'm going back to work at my job for the first time in nearly five months. So the chapters may end up not being written and posted when I would like them to. So here's to hoping for being able to make time to write.**

**Okay, right now, I'm having the idea of, how should I put this... Writing a single story up to a certain number of chapters, then repeating the same thing with another current story, and after that, going back to the first story and repeating the process. My original plan of doing one chapter at a time for each story never fully worked since I started writing more for PO3 than Undead, so I'm gonna try this and see how it works.**

**Also, guys... I need those reviews for both current stories (I have Undead posted in four different fandoms right now: Bleach (Anime), Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Books), Michael Vey Series (Books), and Spider-Man(Comics)). They're helpful and make my stories worth writing. And I'm still not seeing anyone sending me any art of the Kurosaki brothers and their girlfriends together. If you're a great artist, please use your skills to draw a picture of all of them, and then send that picture to me through PM. I would like to have the picture as this story's cover and I will give credit to the picture's creator. I like my Hollywood Undead cover, but it's not appropriate for this story.**

**Let's get this show on the road, shall we?**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

Kisuke had a lot on his plate at the moment. He had 3 of his pupils' friends in his shop recovering from injuries they sustained from fighting Hollows and his students were not happy about it, he needed to find out if Aizen really sent those Menos Grande and the lower level Hollows after them, and he had to prepare for the Soul Society when they came for Rukia since they were sure to have noticed the spike in Hollow and unknown spiritual pressure. Today was just not his day.

But he did not have time to worry about that. "Your friends were fighting some Hollows and it seems they unlocked some powers of their own in the process. They're fine, Tessai healed Chad and Orihime and Tatsuki only have minor injuries." he said.

The boys were relieved to hear that. The downside of it seemed was that Orihime would now get involved in their world and all of them knew she was incredibly innocent, naive, and ditzy, meaning she definitely couldn't handle all the fighting and didn't have the resolve to fight enemies. "Why the hell did they go after them?" asked Ichigo.

"My theory is the Hollows were attracted by their spirit energy and wanted to consume them because of it." speculated Urahara. He didn't tell them that Aizen most likely was the one to send the beasts to test them because of Rukia being in the room.

Bennett groaned. "This just keeps getting better and better." He looked at the clock in the store. "Let's just continue this discussion another time. We gotta get home, the old man is expecting us home soon. See ya, Hat-and-Clogs." They reentered their bodies and left the store, saying goodbye to Tessai and Yoruichi. Rukia followed the boys out of the shop while Uryu bade them farewell for the day and went home.

The exiles heard groaning from the injured people currently recovering. Going back inside, they saw Orihime, Chad, and Tatsuki sitting up and looking around. "Where are we?" asked the large teen. He and his companions were in confusion at the building they were.

The shop owner cleared his throat and they snapped their heads to his direction. "Mr. Sado, Ms. Arisawa, Ms. Inoue, my name is Kisuke Urahara and I'm one of Benetto, Randii, and Ichigo's teachers. My associates brought you here to my shop after you three were attacked by Hollows." He motioned toward Yoruichi and Tessai. "The woman is Yoruichi Shihoin, their other teacher, and the man is Tessai Tsukabishi, an employee of mine."

"Urahara, where are they right now?" asked Chad.

"Ah, right. Your friends are home right now. They are resting after exterminating a large amount of Hollows." he explained.

Tatsuki smirked. "So you and the model are their mentors for their Soul Reaper training, huh?" She noticed something about the cocoa-skinned woman. The tomboy didn't know if it had something to do with her new abilities, but she could sense the older female's body pulse with a charge of energy when the shifty man mentioned her longtime friend. If she had to guess, the energy signified an emotion the woman felt about him. Plus, she was the only one who could also see Yoruichi's body faintly glow with a rose red hue. 'Wait... does she... Ichigo, this chick cares a lot for you. More than I think she realizes.' "Mr. Urahara, can me and Yoruichi talk in private? I need to talk to her about Ichigo."

He raised an eyebrow. "Go right ahead." She dragged the Shihoin princess into another part of the shop and shut the door.

"Now, what are your intentions with Ichigo?"

* * *

Orihime timidly asked the perverted man, "Mr. Urahara, what did Tatsuki mean by Soul Reaper?" To her, it sounded like the boys were killing things. That didn't sound like something her crush and his brothers would do at all. In addition, she was curious as to why her best friend wanted to talk to that woman about Ichigo.

He sighed and explained what Soul Reapers, Hollows, and Quincies were, what they did, everything they needed to know about the Soul Society, etc. At the end, she looked a bit frightened, but he assured her she had nothing to worry about since the boys had been doing this for over a month and had the necessary experience and skills to fight the Hollows.

She relaxed when she heard that and was relieved that the boys weren't hurting themselves. "Our world is kept from normal humans for good reasons because it is a dangerous one so I will be having you all train with Yoruichi to strengthen your powers and make you three capable of defending yourselves. " Kisuke told the two.

They continued to discuss how they were going to proceed for about twenty minutes until Tatsuki and Yoruichi came back to the room with the older female slightly flushed in the face and Ichigo's oldest friend smiling a shit-eating grin, leaving the others a bit curious at what exactly the two were talking about.

* * *

Tatsuki smirked at the look on Yoruichi's face when she asked her question. The woman had her mouth agape and face in surprise. "What do you mean? He's my pupil." the ex-captain said a little shakily.

Tatsuki held up her hand to stop her. "The reason I say this is that I think my powers allow me to sense energy that is given off of bodies as well as see different emotions and feelings through colored glows that only I can see. When Urahara mentioned Ichigo, I felt the energy in you react to it and there was a red glow around you that showed you were feeling a certain emotion."

Yoruichi paled and whispered, "What emotion?" If it was what she thought it was, then she was screwed.

"You like him and that's slowly starting to become love." It was true and no amount of denial could change that. Yoruichi had a bit of a crush on the Strawberry. How could she not, he made her feel like a woman and not an object. Not only that, he took the time to listen to and comfort her as well as just simply being there for her. "There's something you should really know about Ichigo if you want to pursue him. In the past few weeks, I have noticed him smile a lot like he was happy about something. He barely smiles anymore since his mom died. Which means it is about a girl. And I am pretty certain the girl that's making him smile is you."

She froze in shock. 'Does Ichigo really feel that way about me?' "How do you know?" she asked.

"Call it a hunch," shrugged Tatsuki. "But if you hurt him, there will be hell to pay, do you understand?" she glared.

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes. "I care for him too much to do that to him." She understood that Arisawa was trying to look out for her friend and keep him from more heartbreak and she respected the girl for that.

The teen's eyes softened and she smiled. "Good. You two belong with each other, I may have only just met you but I can tell you and him are perfect for each other. Who knows, you may even get married."

"M-married?!"

* * *

"Did you have a nice chat with Ms. Shihoin, Ms. Arisawa?" deadpanned Kisuke. Yoruichi clearly had a small blush that he and the rest of them could see. What that blush was about, he had no clue. Oh well, he could always get the security footage from the cameras in his shop.

"It was productive and I said what needed to be said." Tatsuki stared at him, daring him to correct her.

After a couple of seconds of her eyes boring into his very soul, he sighed in exasperation. "Putting that aside, you three will undergo training with Yoruichi to make your powers stronger as well as yourselves."

Ichigo's former sparring partner hummed thoughtfully. "So we'll be helping out Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett with slaying Hollows and their Soul Reaper duties? Alright, sounds good to me. They'll definitely need help doing their jobs."

Orihime then realized that Urahara never told her about the boys' extracurricular activities and yet she already knew what they were doing. "Tatsuki, did you know about all this?"

The girl looked at her best friend and nodded. "So did Chad. Bennett, Randy, and Ichigo told both of us when they first got involved in all this. I didn't believe them at first, but Ichigo proved me wrong."

Orihime was reasonably upset with Tatsuki for keeping something from her. "But we promised to never keep anything from each other! Why didn't you tell me?! I could have helped them!" she cried.

"Hime, it wasn't our secret to tell, it was theirs to tell when they felt like it. And we didn't have any powers to help them to begin with. Plus, they explained about their heritage and genetics which made them special beings."

"You hit the nail right on the head about their heritage, Ms. Arisawa. Your friends are three of the most unique people ever born, making them capable of reaching heights of power which most beings only dream of," congratulated Kisuke. "All of you should head on home, it's getting late."

Tatsuki agreed and dragged her friend out of the shop. Chad thanked Urahara and left as well.

As Tatsuki and Orihime walked home, a frustrated Orihime sternly said, "Tatsuki, you should have told me. I could have done something to help Ichigo and his brothers."

Tatsuki gritted her teeth. This was not what she needed to deal with right now. She had to nip this thinking in the bud before Orihime did something reckless and got hurt or killed. "Orihime! Enough! It's over with, it won't change anything. You can't let this crush on my oldest friend control your life anymore. Ichigo doesn't even—" she stopped herself before she said something that damaged their friendship.

Something broke inside Orihime. Was Tatsuki about to say what she thought she would say? She began to tear up a little. "Doesn't even what, Tatsuki? What were you going to tell me about Ichigo? Does this have anything to do with why you talked to Yoruichi about him?"

The spiky-haired teenager sighed. 'Me and my big mouth.' "It has everything to do with that. Hime, for the past few weeks, Ichigo's been more happy than I have ever seen him since his mother died. He's happy about a girl and... it's not you. I think the only love he can give you with his heart is sibling love. I'm sorry, Orihime."

Orihime broke down into tears and buried her face into her hands. "Why?! Why doesn't he have feelings for me?!" she sobbed. Tatsuki rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. She cried for a couple of minutes in hysterics. "Is the girl that's making him happy Yoruichi?" the heartbroken girl asked her best friend after she calmed down a bit.

"Yes, but she doesn't realize how much she cares for him. I talked to her to make sure she wouldn't hurt Ichigo because I could tell with my powers that she had feelings for him. It was a hunch that I acted on and if I'm right, he definitely really likes her too." Tatsuki said. Then she thought of something. "Orihime, why do you love Ichigo? Have you ever done anything to show that love to him?"

"Well, no. But the reason I love him is because he's nice and helpful to others and caring. Ichigo comforted me when my brother died, like I was family to him. He always wants to help and protect people and—"

Tatsuki cut her off, "I'll stop you right there. Hime, you don't love Ichigo, you love his image as a hero. It's basically hero worship. Look, the reason I am telling you this is because if you follow Ichigo into a fight because of your crush and come out hurt or worse, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I do not want you getting hurt. I'm sorry I had to break your heart, but I just want to keep you safe."

Orihime nodded weakly. "I guess so. I'm not going to lie, it hurts to hear you say that and it will take some time to get through this, but I'll manage... somehow."

They reached Orihime's residence and Tatsuki said goodbye to her for the night. She continued home, silently cursing herself for breaking her friend's heart and not being more gentle with her words.

* * *

"Kisuke, it was Aizen who sent those Hollows after them, wasn't it?" asked the purple-haired beauty.

The former captain nodded in response. "He knows about them and is testing them to see if they lived up to his expectations. Not only that, the Soul Society could come to arrest Ms. Kuchiki anytime now. It's a good thing I refrained from placing it inside of her gigai, I do not want Aizen to gain an opportunity to take it ever. It needs to be kept away from him. Plus, the boys would lose faith and their trust in me if I did so and I promised Isshin I would watch over them when they first got dragged into this entire mess."

"I guess it has begun. Do you want me to get in touch with them?"

"Yes, I have a feeling Bennett, Ichigo, and Randy will need their help." He gained a perverted smirk. "So what did you and Tatsuki talk about, perhaps a certain Strawberry?"

Yoruichi smacked him and gained a fierce blush staining her face. "Shut up and go back to fiddling with your inventions!"

* * *

A couple nights later, Rukia was still stewing over her thoughts in Randy's closet. She kept going back to how she considered the boys as true friends and comrades. 'Oh no, I can't stay here any longer and I can't go back to the Soul Society. But...'

She heard Karin and Yuzu talking with their brothers and father at the dinner table. It sounded like a happy conversation, filled with joy. Her older brother rarely showed any affection towards her and when he did, it wasn't much. The Kurosakis were a happy family, even if the matriarch wasn't in their lives anymore. What she wouldn't give to have a family like that. But if the 13 Court Guard Squads found Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett, they might go after their family as well. 'No, I can't let that happen! I have to do this.'

She gathered what little possessions she had and placed them into a backpack. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, she wrote down an encoded letter addressed to the boys along with the code to decrypt the message. Then Rukia placed the letter on the desk and opened and hopped out the window, running down the street.

She stopped at the end of the street and looked back one more time at the house she had grown used to. 'I'm sorry, you guys. But I can't let you get hurt because of me. So this is goodbye.' And she ran off.

Unknown to her, two men in shihakusho were watching her run down the road. The redheaded, tattooed man lifted up the goggles he was wearing to his forehead and said to the black-haired man, "That's her alright, Captain Kuchiki. She's in a gigai."

"Keep track of her, Lieutenant Abarai"

"Yes sir."

* * *

After dinner, Randy went up to his room to bring Rukia her dinner. He opened the door and walked in. "Rukia? I brought you dinner." He received no response. "Rukia? You there?"

He set down the plate and opened up the door to his closet to find it empty. Her pajamas were neatly folded as well as the sheets for the mattress inside of the space. 'Where could she be?'

A very much unneeded comment came from his Zanpakuto. _**"I'll bet she's busy drawing those awful Chappy pictures of hers, just waiting to torture us with forcing us to look at them! Hahaha!"**_ the crazy sword spirit cackled.

'Pipe down, you Caliban wannabe!' he shot back. Grumbling came from the Hollowfied Zanpakuto at the X-Men reference, not happy about being compared to an albino mutant.

Ignoring the grumbling, he saw a note on the desk and picked it up. Finding it to be gibberish, Randy looked to the side of the paper and saw the code. He used it and figured out the message, which explained that Rukia was leaving because she had stayed too long and the Soul Society would most likely assume something different than them unlocking their own powers and come after them, so she had to protect them as a last act of gratitude. He widened his eyes when he read the whole of the letter. This wouldn't end well at all.

"Ichigo, Bennett! Get in here, we got a problem!" he called out to his brothers. They came to the room and asked what was wrong. "Rukia's gone. She left a letter explaining why she ran off. If the Soul Society sends people after her, she won't be able to protect herself."

"She could not have gotten far, or at least not out of the town. We need to find her quickly," said Bennett. "Hasashi, Kon, Hikaru! We need you."

Three stuffed animals, a lion, iguana, and penguin, waltzed in. "What do ya need, Bennett? said the stuffed penguin.

A few days after the brothers received the Mod-Souls, they found a trio of stuffed toy animals sitting by the road in the trash. Deciding to place the pills in the toys, they gave freedom to the artificial souls and allowed them to move freely inside the boys' rooms, though without their sisters seeing the toys moving and talking. They each gave the Mod-Souls their own body, with Ichigo putting Kon in the lion, Bennett putting Hasashi in the penguin, and Randy placing Hikaru in the iguana.

"Rukia ran off. We have to find her before the Soul Society gets ahold of her." The brothers grabbed the pills from inside the toys and each popped one into their mouths, pushing them into their Soul forms. "Watch the house while we're gone. Don't allow anyone other than us to come inside the house, we're not sure if they sent Soul Reapers after our family."

"Gotcha, go find Rukia before something happens. You think it could get messy?" asked the stuffed lion.

"Most likely. Wish us luck." They jumped out the window and began searching.

* * *

Rukia kept running through the street, having no idea where she was going to go, but she didn't care. She had to get out of the city and disappear.

She stopped for a sec to catch her breath. "At this rate, I'm not going to get anywhere."

"You got that right, Rukia!"

Rukia froze when she hear the familiar voice call out to her. She turned around quickly and looked in shock at who she saw. A redheaded man with tattoos dressed in a black kimono with a wooden badge strapped to his arm stood in the air with a angry look on his face. He was holding his sword in his hands for when he had to pull it out of its sheath.

"Renji? Renji Abarai? Is that you?" she asked the man.

"Who else, Rukia Kuchiki. What's with that look on your face, you look almost... human. Don't look so surprised to see me. After all, you broke an important law. I'm here to take you back to the Soul Society and arrest you." said Renji.

She could feel how strong he had gotten since they last met, he was at least at weak captain/strong lieutenant level. She then noticed the badge on his arm. "Y-you are a lieutenant?!" she stammered.

Renji gained a wicked grin. "Yep. You've been gone too long, Rukia. Let me show you just how strong I have become!" He leapt at her, unsheathing his sword and swinging heavily down into the ground. The earth shook with force and knocked Rukia to the ground.

She began to panic. 'He's much stronger than before. This isn't good.' She fired off a Kido to give her space to start running again. "Hado #4. Byakurai!"

The lightning had no effect on Renji as it weakly struck him and left no mark on him. "You've grown soft!" He walked slowly towards her. "Now, I'm going to ask once: Where are the humans you gave your powers to? Don't make this harder than it has to be, just tell me where they are."

Realization hit Rukia like a freight train. "You're going to kill them. No! I won't let you, they did nothing wrong!"

"They have your Soul Reaper powers! It is a crime for humans to be given them!" he roared.

She glared at him. "First: Soul Reaper powers can only be transferred to a single human at a time. So explain to me how three different humans can have my Soul Reaper powers at the same time. Second: I never even gave them my powers, they are just dormant and my spirit energy was siphoned off and it unlocked their own Soul Reaper abilities."

The lieutenant was shocked and in disbelief. "That's not possible! You must be lying!" She had to be lying.

Rukia stared him down without flinching. "I'm not, you know me better than that, Renji." He searched for any sign of deception and found none.

"No way... you're telling the truth. How... just how do 3 humans have their own Soul Reaper powers? It's been theorized but never documented before." he whispered. He looked back at her and steeled his nerves. "Regardless of that, we are taking you in for abandoning your post and failing to report in to your superiors. We're not taking no for an answer. Isn't that right, Captain Kuchiki?"

Rukia turned around and was shocked to see her older brother, Byakuya Kuchiki, walk up. He was a moderately tall, regal-faced man with long black hair that was decorated with ornamental hairpieces and, like his counterpart, was dressed in a black kimono but with a white haori overtop.

"Byakuya."

"It's time for you to face your punishment, Rukia." said the stoic clan head.

'What am I supposed to do now? I can't even keep my friends safe.' She didn't know what to do, she had no options left to her. Her brother was a powerful captain and master of Flash Step, he could catch her without trying and kill her easily. Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett definitely couldn't hope to win against him. Even with the new information they had received, she had no way of knowing if they were still going to kill her new friends.

The Soul Reapers gathered then felt a trio of signatures racing toward them quickly. Renji and Byakuya didn't recognize the spirit energy of the three newcomers, but Rukia did. 'No no no no, what are they doing?! They should not be here or they'll be killed!' she screamed in her head.

"Who are these Soul Reapers approaching us? Do you recognize their spirit energy, Captain Kuchiki?" asked Renji. The captain narrowed his eyes. His subordinate took it as a sign that he didn't.

Three shadows came crashing down into the street in front of them, cracking the ground and leaving craters where they landed. Renji gripped his sword tightly while his captain rested a hand on his own Zanpakuto in response to the power displayed to them.

The dust settled and three tall teenage boys dressed in a variation of Soul Reaper uniforms and a type of face covering stood there with indifferent looks in their eyes.

"Identify yourselves! Who are you and what squads are you from?" the pineapple-haired redhead demanded of the three unknowns. They just stared unflinchingly at him. Renji started to get a bit nervous and annoyed from the silence they were giving him. "I said identify yourselves, did you not hear me?!" he continued to demand.

"Oh we heard you alright, we just decided to give you a bit of the silent treatment." the teen wearing the bandana snarked, making his comrades snicker. Renji grit his teeth at the blatant disrespect given to him. "As for our names, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Benetto 'Bennett' Kurosaki." replied the tallest boy.

"Randii 'Randy' Kurosaki." answered the blond.

"As for our squads, we don't belong to any squads, we're Substitute Soul Reapers."

It clicked for the older Kuchiki. "You three are the humans that Rukia helped unlock their powers." he said.

"That's right, we inherited them. Who are you two and what do you want with our friend?" inquired Randy. They were definitely Soul Reapers. The younger man had to be a lieutenant since he had a badge and the older male a captain if the white haori was anything to go by.

'Inherited? That clarifies a little bit on how 3 humans have Soul Reaper powers, so who did they get them passed down from?' Captain Kuchiki wondered. "I am Captain Byakuya Kuchiki of Squad 6 of the 13 Court Guard Squads and this is my lieutenant, Renji Abarai. We're here to arrest Rukia Kuchiki for not reporting in and staying in the World of the Living for too long. Don't interfere or we'll be forced to take action against you."

They grew angry at hearing this. "That is bullshit! You're going to arrest her, your own family, for helping save another family?! What kind of laws do you have in the Soul Society?! That's not justice!" yelled Bennett.

"What would you know about anything, it's your fault she's being arrested in the first place!" The hotheaded Pineapple rushed toward the boys and swung quickly at Bennett's head.

He blocked it and shoved him away, charging after him and crossing blades again. His brothers circled up and surrounded Renji in an attempt to make him fight them all at once.

Bennett kept clashing with Renji for a bit and gave him some moderate cuts on his chest, then he backed off and Ichigo jumped in to keep wearing the Soul Reaper down. They continued switching around and cutting him until their target got pissed and released his Zanpakuto. "Roar, Zabimaru!" he yelled.

His sword elongated and gained serrated segments on one side leading up to the tip of the blade, which widened and flattened. It looked like a weapon made for sawing off the limbs of an enemy.

He swung his Zanpakuto at Randy, who was currently engaging him, and the segments extended and stretched apart to show a thick cord underneath the metal. The weapon reached behind Randy and pulled back into itself, screaming towards the teen. He did not understand what Renji was trying to do so he did not react in time when the serrations dug into him. He grunted in pain as blood squirted out of his shoulder and splattered against the pavement.

He place his own sword in between the protrusions and lifted the weapon out of his body, leaving a wound in his shoulder. "That was very sneaky, you little shit. But is that all you got?" he sneered. Renji growled and swung again. The blade again reached toward the Substitute, but Randy was ready this time. When the cord was exposed to him while the sword was racing in his direction, he slashed down into the cord, bisecting in half and breaking the sword in half.

Taking this as an indicator to attack, the three teens rushed forward to attack Renji. "Shit!" screamed the lieutenant. His Shikai had been broken and he had no defense options left except for one. He prepared to fire the only Kido spell he could perform. A ball of red energy formed on his palm. "Hado #31. Shakkaho!" The orb shot into Bennett and exploded. Renji fired off 2 more of the same spell into Ichigo and Randy, both getting caught in the explosions when the spells hit them.

"ICHIGO! RANDII! BENETTO!" Rukia screamed. She collapsed to her knees and stared at the smoke in the area from where the spells blew up, hoping they were not hurt.

Renji sighed. "That should put them down." He picked up his broken Zanpakuto, which had reverted back to its sealed state, and inspected it. It was going to take a bit of time for it to fix itself if the damage indicated anything.

"Really, you pineapple-headed moron? That was just annoying." Randy's voice called out. Renji whipped around and saw the three teenagers walking toward with pissed looks on their faces and slight burns on their bodies but otherwise unharmed. Rukia saw this as well and let out a shaky breath.

The lieutenant went bug-eyed. 'What the actual hell?! It's not possible, they each shrugged off a Shakkaho like it was nothing. I know that my grasp of Kido is limited and it's the only spell I know and can do correctly, but a Shakkaho is powerful when done right... and these guys are completely unfazed by my spells! In fact, I may have just made them angrier.' Renji started to become worried at the prospect that he may have just made himself their target.

His inner musings were interrupted by Bennett calling out to the two spiritual soldiers of Squad 6. "Hey, I want to know something. Who is the leader of the 13 Court Guard Squads? Who allowed this farce of an arrest to happen? I want to speak with them and know why exactly they allowed our friend to be arrested for helping save my family and give them some information we've come across. And I'm sure my brothers would like to do the same." Ichigo and Randy murmured in agreement, giving their stance of thought on the matter both knowing their brother had asked an important question that would give them more information.

Captain Kuchiki raised an eyebrow. "That would be Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Captain of Squad 1." This specific question caught his interest.

Ichigo said, "Then you tell him that we want to have a talk. We're not going to harm him, we're definitely not stupid enough to attack the leader of an powerful organization that might retaliate if we did. All we want to do is talk."

The captain of Squad 6 thought it over and found no problems with what the three were saying. "Very well. Though i still have to do this." He blurred out of sight and appeared behind them, sheathing his Zanpakuto as if he'd drawn it and they couldn't see it happen. Which was exactly what occurred. Blood spurted out of Randy's gut, Bennett's shoulder, Ichigo's waist, and several other areas around their bodies. Each of them collapsed to the ground, the blood from their wounds painting the street crimson. Rukia screamed in terror. "Come, Rukia, Renji. We're leaving." the clan head said with no emotion. The redhead grunted and Rukia tearfully nodded, not trusting her words at the moment.

Although in pain, Randy was able to look up with some effort at that exact moment and see a Senkaimon gate open up with the three Soul Reapers walking into the gate and disappearing, leaving no sign that they were ever there to begin with. He just glared at the spot they had just occupied until he lost the strength to keep his head up a couple seconds later.

"Can you two move at all? Any movement counts. I certainly can't, that bastard hit me pretty good in several spots that inhibits me moving." the usually scowling orangette groaned in pain.

Bennett grunted, "Same here."

"Neither can I. God damn, it's painful. The good thing is Rukia's family member didn't kill us, so he must have decided to tell his leader that we wanted to talk to him." said Randy.

"At least there's that, but they arrested the midget. I think she was about to cry when Byakuya slashed us, so she definitely didn't want to go back. Why didn't she tell us about her situation? We would have tried to help her out." the mohawk-wearing teen asked glumly.

"Regardless of that, we have to save her. We owe her for saving us in our time of need... and I'm gonna pass out now." The blond fell silent, light snoring the only sound coming from him after that.

Ichigo and Bennett chuckled. 'Leave it to Randii to do something to cut the tension.' Ichigo snickered in his head. They then heard the familiar clicking of wooden sandals on the pavement and knew it was Urahara coming to get them. Both of them lifted their heads up and saw Kisuke, Tessai, and... a black cat hanging on the blond man's shoulder? The strawberry blinked. The cat was still there and he wasn't hallucinating, so it must have been Yoruichi. "Hey... Kisuke," he said. "Looks like we got a little ahead of ourselves, didn't we?" The cat jumped down from its perch on the sandaled man's body and walked up to and looked at the teen with a sad look in its eyes, as if it was feeling guilty and remorseful about the situation.

"For what it's worth, you three did well. I'm sorry I didn't do more, I expected the Soul Society to send a squad eventually, they don't usually send officers from the high ranks for stuff like this. A lieutenant and a captain was something out of left field entirely. I should have expected that. Blame me if you want to." the exile sighed. His pupils getting hurt was not something he ever wanted to happen.

Bennett smiled weakly. "We don't blame you, Kisuke. And don't blame yourself either, it's nobody's fault." He winced a little bit as pain shook through his body momentarily and he fell unconscious a few moments later.

His brother turned his head to look at the cat and gave a bloody grin. "Hey, Yoruichi. That must be you in your cat form, I can tell by your beautiful golden eyes. Looks like I am in need of more training, aren't I?" The disguised Shihoin widened her eyes in surprise and, though not visible in that form, her small face tinged a bit of pink. Her student, and secret crush, followed in his siblings' footsteps and passed out as well. Which left her, Tessai, and Urahara alone.

"Kisuke... they were just trying to help a friend. Ichigo and his brothers did not deserve this!" said Yoruichi in her disguised man's voice, very much upset at the state of how things turned out tonight.

"I know... I know."

"He'll be okay, right? All three of them?"

"The wounds look to be done solely to affect any movement. They must have left an impression on Captain Kuchiki for them to be left alive. I think they'll be fine in a couple of days. Let's get them back to the shop. Oh, and you can come out now, Uryu." he called out to seemingly no one.

The Quincy materialized from behind a tree. He had a frustrated look on his face. "I felt spiritual pressure from those two Soul Reapers when they first started actively hunting for Rukia. I thought my cousins could handle them, so I hid my presence and observed while following them. I didn't want to let the Soul Society know that there were some Quincies still around." He clenched his hands until the knuckles were white. "DAMN IT! I should have given them backup regardless! That was a high level captain, they needed the help and I just stood there watching while he cut them down!"

The blond man disagreed. "It's not your fault, Uryu. This was just a situation no one could control or see coming and Ichigo, Randii, and Benetto got the short end of the stick. We'll take them back to the shop and let them rest and heal. Go home, your father will probably want to know what happened."

Uryu nodded and used Hirenkyaku to leave the area. When the former Squad 2 captain was sure that the teen had left the area completely, she transformed into her human form. If Ichigo had been awake, he would have had a massive blush on his face due to the fact that Yoruichi was completely naked. But (luckily, or maybe unluckily, depending on who you ask) he was knocked out so he did not get to see the gorgeous woman in all her nude glory.

Kisuke hid his face behind his fan due to the fact he was sporting a perverted grin. As her best friend for as long as he could remember, he knew that she was an attractive woman in a league above many of the women in the Society. Both of them knew that dating each other would have been awkward because she, him, and Tessai had grown up together and it would have been like dating their sibling. However, whenever she transformed from cat form to human form he always enjoyed it, simply because he was a pervert. So the fact that he was able to see her naked rear made him let out a perverted giggle.

Yoruichi gave him a glare for his actions, but didn't do anything further. She turned to Ichigo and hoisted him up onto her shoulders and back, letting his arms loop around her neck and Flash Stepping away.

As they left, Kisuke had a stray thought hit him. "The shit's about to hit the fan, Tessai."

"On that we can agree, Boss."

* * *

**And done. As always, read and review. And no flaming, please.**

**if you were a tween, teen, or kid, during the late 2000s to the early 2010s, then you'll most likely know about MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games). Well I was in that group of people and I knew about them. I used to come home everyday from school and play those games on my desktop during that period of time. Lego Universe, Free Realms, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, those were the games I played. All of them are now shut down and they have been for quite some time. My childhood is basically gone now and has been so for a while. I know I have talked about something like before, but it will really hit home in a bit. Look, the reason why I am bringing this up is because in a little over a month from now on October 26, it will be the 10th anniversary of Lego Universe launching. This date is a sore subject for me because Lego Universe was actually the FIRST MMOG that I ever played. It's the one that got me into online multiplayer gaming. Seeing it shut down was not a good moment for me. And I really want the revival project Darkflame Universe to succeed.**

** I know there is a revival for Free Realms (FR Sunrise/ Free Realms Sunrise, which is in development and between Alpha and Closed Beta), POTCO (The Legend of Pirates Online, which has been released to the public), and Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (this one is the one that I am a little iffy on since I haven't found an actual website that says if there is a revival or not, but there are Youtube videos discussing several different revival projects involving the game, so not too sure about that one), but LU was special.**

**Alright, now onto some good news. I was looking up news for the Percy Jackson TV series when I came across an article in the news section on Google. If you are a PJO Universe fan, then you most likely have already heard this piece of news, but if you are not then I shall tell you...**

**IT'S CONFIRMED, YOU GUYS! THE KANE CHRONICLES IS GOING TO BE MADE INTO A NETFLIX FILM SERIES!**

**Isn't that something to celebrate about? I am a fan of the spin-off series and this has made me so happy! Two of Uncle Rick's series are going to be adapted for the screen. That news made my day.**

**Crash, out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, here's another chapter for you guys. Enjoy.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

At the Urahara Shop, Yoruichi had been watching over Ichigo through the night and into the early morning after she brought him to the store to recover, with Tessai and Kisuke following her, the burly, bespectacled man carrying the other two boys on his shoulders. After she reached the shop and bandaged his wounds, she changed into her regular outfit so when he woke up, she could have a serious conversation with him. She continued to watch him rest, but other than that, she had nothing else to do other than retrieve he and his siblings' bodies from their house, but she quickly finished that task and placed them into their human bodies. This meant she had some time to herself and mull over her thoughts.

She always had been a proud and independent woman, never allowing herself to be tied down by her job or anyone else. The cocoa-skinned female was a free spirit, and even though she used to be the Squad 2 captain, leader of the Stealth Force, and Shihoin Clan Head, which would put a 90-foot long pole up anyone's ass from the perception of self-importance, Yoruichi didn't let that stop her from having fun and being herself. But she also never let the power go to her head and be like the snobbish and conceited nobles of the Soul Society's governing body and most of the other nobles that resided there. Kisuke and Tessai had helped keep her grounded and open-minded when they were growing up in her clan's compound, which translated into how she would do her jobs in the future.

She smiled at the thought of them hanging around the compound, making fun of and pulling practical jokes on some of the more stuck-up members and elders of her clan, and the games they played when they were little brats. 'If I never had those two to shape my life and views on life, I definitely would have become a different person than I am now.' Yoruichi's mind began drifting to what she might have been like and acted if she never met her friends. She quickly banished such thoughts from her head and pondered on another subject.

She knew she was an attractive woman and that fact alone had many suitors attempting to court her before she was exiled. She never gave them the time of day due to the fact that they only were after her because of her status, good looks, or sometimes both. That was why the ex-captain refused to marry unless she found a man that loved her for being her and not for her position, beauty, or status, but there were few of those people in the Seireitei. Kisuke might have been one of those few candidates and liked her for being herself, but dating him would be like dating family since they grew up together, and they both knew that. And he had a tendency to openly show how perverted he was, which annoyed her a lot. It had seemed she would never find someone.

Then she met Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ichigo was different from the men in the Soul Society. He was caring, sweet, and knew how to break the walls she would put up. Not only that, he was willing to fight for what he believed was right and had an aura about him that showed security and comfort, which would make anyone want to become close friends, allies or, in a girl's case, something more. The fact that he was a major badass and extremely good-looking was just icing on the cake, and she began to like him soon enough. At first, she thought it was just a schoolgirl crush that would go away, but soon she found herself wanting to spend time more and more often. It eventually progressed to her unconsciously knowing she was in love with him, but not wanting to admit it to herself. But after her discussion with Tatsuki, she had some time to truly think on what the Substitute meant to her. She realized she loved every part of him and couldn't stand the thought of her entire world without him. And deep down in her subconscious, she knew he felt the same about her.

When they had found Ichigo and his brothers lying on the ground bleeding and wounded, she wanted to cry, but steeled her nerves and cursed herself for ever allowing them to get involved with their world and fighting against Aizen. She never wanted him to get hurt this badly. Oh she knew there would be some injuries, but not ones coming from a highly skilled captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads. It was something she never wanted to happen to him again, but because of how well she knew him after all this time, Yoruichi knew Ichigo would just continue to push forward like nothing happened. It was what was so endearing about him to her.

Looking down at his sleeping figure, she cradled his head and gently stroked his untamable spikes. She sat there for a bit thinking so more before she heard a groan coming from the orangette. The teen slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. 'Must be in Kisuke's shop.' Then he looked up at the woman holding his head. "Hey." he quietly said, not sure to expect from the shorter female.

SMACK!

Ichigo's head went to the side after his teacher/crush slapped his face... hard. He could feel the sting from the slap and his cheek was red. Rubbing his face, he looked back at Yoruichi and widened his eyes when he saw that she had tears in her golden eyes. Of all the things he was thinking she would do, crying after slapping him was not one of them.

"You stupid jackass! What were you doing fighting a captain?!" she cried out. "Byakuya Kuchiki is one of the most skilled division leaders the Soul Society has! You, Benetto, and Randii could have been killed!"

"We only fought Renji Abarai, the lieutenant. We kept up with him and even had him on the ropes. Then we asked who their leader was, they answered, and we told them we wanted to talk to him about why they wanted to arrest Rukia when all she did was help a family. Byakuya said we could, then he just vanished and somehow cut us, but only in spots that stopped movement. He kept us alive for that reason alone." Ichigo retorted.

"Doesn't matter! I could have lost you... and then I'd be alone. I don't want to lose you, Ichigo." she fired back, though the angry reply became softer in tone at the end. She whispered softly, "I care about you too much for that to happen."

The tattooed teen sat up and took her dainty hands into his calloused ones. Looking into her eyes, he replied, "Trust me, I won't let that happen. You're the light in my entire world, Yoruichi."

Her breath hitched. 'Does he really mean...?' His face and eyes said it all. The chocolate Amazon felt her heart race. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

Slowly, she leaned in. Ichigo, realizing what she wanted to do, leaned in as well. Their lips met and they gently kissed for a good fifteen seconds. Then Yoruichi began to kiss more hungrily, almost daring to keep up with her, and he happily obliged. Tongues clashed against each other, fighting for dominance, both keeping the pace that she had set. Yoruichi put her hand behind the teenager's head and pulled him further into her lips while he wrapped his arms around her waist.

They pulled apart after five minutes and caught their breaths. "So that's what being kissed feels like." chirped Ichigo. Resting his forehead against hers, he smiled at her. "I've been wanting to tell you something ever since I realized it. I love you, Yoruichi Shihoin." he confessed, pouring out what he felt about this goddess among women.

The Shihoin princess was giddy on the inside. Her dream came true after all, even if it was just confirming what she wanted to believe. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that. I love you too, Ichigo Kurosaki. And no one is ever going to take you away from me, you hear that?" she playfully threatened her new boyfriend. She grabbed his shirt and quickly kissed him again with Ichigo eagerly returning it.

_**"You go, King! You finally bagged the Queen!"**_ came the shouting from Hollow Zangetsu. Ichigo rolled his eyes internally and told him to shut up. However, a certain pervert ruined the special moment when he entered and saw the two kissing.

"If I said I wasn't expecting something like this, I'd be lying." giggled Urahara, who had just come in from checking in on Ichigo's brothers.

The lovers pulled apart and glared at him. "And why would you say that, Kisuke?" Yoruichi growled.

He flipped out his trademark paper fan and smirked. "I have had a suspicion as well as a theory about the both of you for a bit ever since I heard from Ichigo about his brothers having soulmates. That and you two connected with each other better than anyone else. So you just proved my theory to be correct," he answered. "You two are soulmates and the reason I can tell is both of you have a residual amount of each other's spirit energy in your signatures, this is basically the result of a pair of soulmates' energies being attracted to the other's and when the energies mix, they combine and re-enter your bodies, leaving an imprint of your soulmate's energy in your own signature and spiritual pressure. Very few soulmate pairs have ever been documented in the Soul Society, but what always happens every time is each Soul Reaper or Soul's Zanpakuto Spirit knows who their wielder's other half is instinctively and they are never wrong. I bet your spirits figured it out when you first met Yoruichi."

They widened their eyes. Ichigo looked at his girlfriend. "So Zangetsu knew this entire time. That's why he's been calling you 'the Queen'. He knew you were my soulmate." he told her.

She smiled. "That just reinforces what I told you before. You're not getting from me anytime soon. I am yours, and you are mine." He nodded his head and kissed her cheek lightly.

Kisuke then got a serious look on his face. "On a more serious note, how are you feeling, Ichigo? You three got hurt quite a bit by Captain Kuchiki."

The orange-haired Kurosaki said, "Yeah, I'm alright, the wounds weren't too serious. Other than stopping us from moving for a little bit, they didn't hurt too much. I have a feeling you want to discuss what happened with me and my brothers, right?" Kisuke nodded. "Are they awake yet?"

"No. Tessai is tending to them as we—"

"GOD DAMN IT, TESSAI! I DON"T NEED YOU DOING THAT!" screamed a pissed-off voice.

"Looks like Bennett's awake." said Urahara.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, MAN?! THAT"S JUST CREEPY!" came another angry voice.

"That's definitely Randy raging out. Just what did he do that got them so mad?" wondered Ichigo.

Yoruichi helped Ichigo get up and they walked to another room in the building. They opened the door and saw his brothers adorned in bandages and sitting up with an angry look on their faces and her friend dazed and sprawled out on the floor with a bleeding lip and busted nose. She cocked her head to the side in confusion while Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. Kisuke came in after that, but for all his intelligence, he could not figure out what exactly he was looking at.

Tessai slowly pulled himself off the ground into a sitting position, but was unfortunate enough to be seeing stars in his vision, though he was able to make out his longtime friends and their pupil that was currently not ticked at him standing at the door. He shook the stars out of his sight and cradled his lip and nose tenderly. "They're exceptionally strong when they're not in their soul forms, boss, and they definitely don't pull their punches either. Their fists are like steel." he said in a pained tone.

That caught Yoruichi and Kisuke off guard, though the pervert quickly recovered from his shock and went into thinking mode. Tessai was quite sturdy and much more built than the typical Soul Reaper and to knock him flat on his back and give him a bleeding and busted nose and lip was no small feat. Very few had done something like that to him and they were already fully-grown, mature adult Soul Reapers, but even then it took a lot of effort to damage the large man. For two human boys in the early stages of their mid-adolescent years to do that with a single punch from each of them was incredible (of course, the enhanced strength came from the mixture of all three spiritual races in their bodies and Kisuke knew that, but what he was trying to figure out was how the strength manifested in their human bodies and not in just their soul forms in the first place).

"Hmm..."

Yoruichi knew that look on Kisuke's face. "What are you thinking, Kisuke?" she whispered to him.

"I have a theory, but I shall address it later." he quietly responded. His musing was interrupted by Ichigo speaking up.

"What exactly did you do to them is what I would like to know, dude." asked the ginger-haired teen.

Randy barked out, "I'll tell you what he did, that creepy bastard hovered over our faces while we were knocked out and he was tending to us and the only reason we knew about it was because both of us woke up with his face less than six inches above ours." He shot a glare at the offender. "So we punched him in the face. Hard. Serves him right for being a creep!"

"They have a point, Tessai. You kind of deserved that. Sorry, but I'm just being honest. I highly recommend you not do that next time."

Urahara stopped any further discussion of the topic by saying, "Look, we are getting off track. We need to discuss with you three about what you plan to do now."

The three brothers agreed. "Alright..."

* * *

The end of the year had approached for the students of Karakura High and everyone was excited to be done with school for the year. The students were like ADHD kids hopped up on a massive amount of sugar, they just could not sit still to save their life. Luckily, it was the last class of the day and Ms. Ochi was finishing up talking to her students in her homeroom. "Don't do anything too stupid over the summer to get yourself killed, injured, or otherwise. Enjoy your vacation, everyone." The final bell rang throughout the school. "Class dismissed, see you all next school year."

All of the teenagers cheered and many of them rushed out the door to go home. However, three certain people were not thinking about how they were going to enjoy their vacation. The Kurosaki brothers were instead thinking about what Kisuke had talked to them about. They couldn't get their minds off what they were planning to do.

The three exiles and Substitutes had a lengthy discussion the previous night. The brothers wanted to save their friend from being executed and talk to the Head Captain as well to know why she was being arrested and explain the circumstances surrounding them, the exiles, and Aizen and his two fellow conspirators. Unfortunately, they didn't know if Head Captain Yamamoto would listen to them at all or just kill them for daring to invade the Soul Society, but they had to try. They saw Rukia's face when she was taken back to the Seireitei. She was very much in distress and afraid of what would happen if she was arrested.

Kisuke told Ichigo that he needed to talk to his Zanpakuto spirits and learn about the abilities of his Shikai as well as practice them and hone his other skills. He explained to Bennett and Randy that they needed to unlock their Shikai too and do the same as Ichigo when they did. But to survive the 13 Court Guard Squads, all of three had to learn their Bankai release. He had a plan to help them to unlock that power, but that would come later when they were already in the Soul Society, and he also told them that Uryu was conflicted because the Quincy had observed the fight and nearly jumped in to help them when they were fighting Byakuya and Renji but didn't because he was afraid of the consequences if the Soul Society made the discovery that there were some Quincies still around and decided to entirely eliminate them forever, which included him, his father, the Kurosaki teens and their younger siblings. Urahara gave them advice to make sure their cousin knew it wasn't his fault and they didn't blame him, which they didn't in the first place.

Yoruichi would be coming along with them to help, though she would have to sneak in her cat form because she was recognizable in her soul form. Ichigo was worried at first that if she was recognized and caught, they would execute her on the spot. His girlfriend responded to that by saying she would be fine and knew what she was doing as well as kissing him on the cheek and holding his hand. Right in front of his brothers and Tessai, all of whom did not know they had officially started dating. The blond teen and his raven-haired brother grinned when they saw the display of affection and they were happy for Ichigo. But they could congratulate him later.

They ended the discussion by saying they would be getting some help from some friends of Kisuke's that were in a situation similar to the three and their Zanpakutos, and they should also ask Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu to join them in rescuing Rukia. They needed all the help they could get.

"Do you guys know what happened to Rukia and where she is?" asked Chad's deep voice, snapping them out of their thoughts. They looked up and saw Chad, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Uryu standing in front of them.

"Hey guys, cuz. Yeah, we know where she is and what happened to her, and so does Uryu, but there's nothing good about why she left. You are really not going to like the news we have to share." lamented Bennett.

Randy sighed. "Rukia got taken back to the Soul Society. She didn't want to go, but she was arrested just for what she did the night we first met her. According to Kisuke, they're going to execute her as a criminal." Orihime gasped in fright and Chad stiffened quite visibly. Uryu, who knew that she was arrested but not that she would be executed, narrowed his eyes.

Tatsuki got mad when she heard what they said. "Why?! She helped save your family by unlocking your powers. You three never took her powers, you gained your own. And they're killing her for that?! That's not right!"

"I know, and we're going to stop this from happening. In less than two weeks, we are going to storm the Soul Society to rescue her and save her from being executed," explained Ichigo. "I know this is not fair to ask of you four, but we need any help we can get. I'm not going to lie to you, it is risky and will be dangerous. But that doesn't make a difference to us, Rukia saved us from death and we will do the same for her. Can we count on you to come with us to the Soul Society and save Rukia Kuchiki?" he pleaded.

"You got my help. You three are family and family members support each other in times of distress. Rukia's different, she's not like other Soul Reapers. She certainly doesn't deserve to be put to death just for saving your sisters and father." affirmed the Last Quincy.

"I haven't been the greatest friend since all four of us drifted apart all those years, it's time I started being in your corner again. I got your back, you guys, and don't ever forget that!" exclaimed the fiery tomboy.

Sado replied, "When we became friends, Ichigo told me we would watch each other's backs and you kept that promise every time. You three are my closest friends, there's nothing I wouldn't help you guys with. I'll watch your backs when we invade the Soul Society. I'm in." He gave a small nod to show he would not back down from the task that was asked of him.

The three boys looked at Orihime, expecting an answer from the auburn-haired girl. She nodded. "How could I say no? You need my assistance, you got it. Rukia needs us, all of us." the innocent girl answered. Though if she was being honest, she was worried about any of them not coming back in one piece, or even coming back at all. But she did not voice her concerns.

"Thanks, you guys," said an appreciative Randy. "Right now, our main concern is training and mastering our powers in order to stand a fighting chance against the 13 Court Guard Squads and their captains and lieutenants. If we don't do that, then we'll be slaughtered like the animal's in a butcher's shop."

"This is non-negotiable, it will keep you alive and in one piece," explained his redheaded brother. "I believe when Kisuke talked to you three at his store, he said my girlfriend would help you train with your respective powers and abilities. Go over there and get started on your training today."

The healer of the group widened her eyes at hearing her crush had a girlfriend. 'Oh no, please don't tell me...'

Tatsuki grinned when she absorbed the information from her friend. "Oh, and just who is your girlfriend, Ichigo? You did not have one the last time we talked." she cheekily teased the strawberry. If her hunch was right, then Yoruichi and Ichigo had confessed to each other and got together.

He smiled happily. "You, Orihime, and Chad met her at the Urahara Shop. Her name is Yoruichi Shihoin and... well, she's the best thing to happen to me in a long time. We love one another dearly, and according to Hat-and-Clogs, we're soulmates. It's like what Randy and Bennett have with the girls they love. It doesn't matter though, I don't think I could love anyone else like I love her."

Orihime knew that this was coming, but it still hurt that she couldn't be the one for Ichigo. She thought she would be able to get over the heartbreak in time, but looking at how she felt about hearing that he and Yoruichi were soulmates and meant to be together, she realized it would not be easy and it would be a while before she could stop feeling heartbroken.

The resident martial artist, on the other hand, was ecstatic to hear this. "Woah, I knew you two liked the other but I didn't know that you and Yoruichi were connected to each other that deeply. I'm happy for you, Ichigo," the Arisawa girl congratulated him. She looked at Uryu. "I assume that you are going to do training on your own since Kisuke and Yoruichi are not really able to teach you on your Quincy abilities." He nodded. Tatsuki turned to Yasutora and her best friend. "Come on, you two. You heard them, we need to train. So let's get going." The three empowered humans began walking to the Urahara Shop, leaving the group of cousins alone.

"Hey, Uryu?"

"Is something the matter, Bennett?"

"Can we discuss something? It relates to what Ichigo told all of you and involves me and Randy."

"Okay."

* * *

The next day, the three Substitutes were training with Yoruichi and Kisuke in the area below the shop, although one of them was in his Inner World and the others were exchanging blows with one of their two mentors. So far, Bennett and Randy were doing well, but they also had been conversing a little bit with their Zanpakuto spirits, who were refusing to give them Shikai until they understood what it was for and earned it, while they trained and were starting to get a little ticked at their inner selves for clamming up at an extremely bad time, not helping out at said bad time, and giving very little information to work with.

While this was occurring, their friends were resting so they didn't strain themselves from the training. They had trained a bit with Yoruichi before the three brothers started their own training. They, along with the two kids Chad had seen with Tessai, Jinta Hanakiri, the boy, and Ururu Tsumugiya, the girl, watched as Kisuke fought with Bennett and Yoruichi with Randy, the two exiles pushing the Substitutes to their limits. Tatsuki, unlike her two friends, was interested in the fighting style Ichigo's girlfriend was using and made a mental note to ask the former clan head to teach her in the style to add to her repertoire.

Meanwhile, Randy began to fight harder against the dark-skinned female and started pushing her a lot further than she thought he would. Unfortunately, that still did nothing to change his Inner spirits' minds. This continued for fifteen more minutes until he finally got fed up with them and couldn't take it any longer. 'What gives?! You two are not giving me any hints or advice here. I need Shikai or we'll never have a chance at surviving or saving Rukia. So why are you not telling me anything?!' he raged at his spirits.

_**"You have been close to unlocking your first release for a while, Randii, but raging like an angry berserker will not earn you any brownie points with us. Now, are you going to calm down some and listen to both of us or are you going to continue to flip out?"**_ scolded the Hollowfied spirit.

He began to calm himself. 'Fine. What are you trying to say?'

_"Randy, what have you always tried to do for your family? You know the answer to this question, this is important."_ the blond man in his head spoke.

He knew the answer immediately. 'After Mom died, I made a promise to make sure they never suffer pain or are harmed ever again. Mom no longer being with us crushed Dad and my siblings and it changed everything. Nothing was ever the same after that day. But I wanted them to be happy and not be sad again and for that to happen, I knew I would have to do everything in my power to stop anything that tried to hurt them or make them upset or scared, especially Yuzu and Karin.'

_**"But what are you going to do to stop those threats to your family? What do you think you will do to accomplish**_** this?"**

'I'm going to defeat them and never let them harm my family.' stated the teen, though he didn't know where they were going with this line of questioning.

_**"That's not going to work every time, Randy! That may work for regular humans if you just beat them up and leave them with broken bones and such, but in the supernatural world, you cannot allow your opponent to walk away from the fight! Aizen's army of Arrancars won't hesitate to kill you just because you are an enemy and neither will Aizen himself if he feels you are interfering with his plan to kill the Soul King or no longer of interest to him. Wake up! Sometimes it's necessary to end the threat you are facing permanently, especially if they are terrible people and threaten everyone and everything you care for. Do you understand now what we are saying?"**_

Randy lowered his head as he absorbed the information his spirits were giving to. 'Yes, I do. To make sure my family stays happy and not scared anymore, I must kill whoever threatens their safety and happiness if it's needed. I must have the guts and intelligence to know when to go for the kill and never turn back from that decision, or else I will die and so will my loved ones.'

The two spirits nodded. _"You are ready, you have earned Shikai. You know our name, now say it!"_

He gritted his teeth as he held his weapon. "GAIGETSU!" he shouted to the heavens.

Just like how it happened with Ichigo, an enormous wave of spiritual pressure rocketed from his body, blanketing the underground area and making it difficult for the people unprepared for the pressure to stand it. The dust from the ground kicked up from the torrent of wind that appeared and covered the area, no longer allowing people to see what was going on.

When the dust settled and the wind stopped howling, Randy stood with his newly unlocked Shikai, which was somewhat similar to his brother's, though it was different in its own ways.

Just like Ichigo's, it was a Dual Zanpakuto that had both manifestations as bladed weapons, one larger and one smaller. However, instead of an oversized Khyber knife, the bigger blade was a black, double-edged longsword sharpened to a deadly point. In addition to the sword, the smaller weapon was not a trench knife but a dagger in the same color as the larger blade. The finishing touch was a knuckleduster on each weapon's hilt that served as both an extra mode of attack and protection. All in all, it made for an awesome sight for one's eyes to behold.

Yoruichi whistled in surprise. "Well, I'll be damned. You were right, Kisuke. Randy has two blades as well. It makes me wonder what Bennett's blades are going to look like."

The pervert chuckled mockingly with a bit of false arrogance laced in his laugh. "Of course I'm right. There are two rules you should know when dealing with my intelligence. Rule Number One: I am always right. Rule Number Two: If I'm not right, refer to Rule Number One."

Randy and Bennett just looked at him like he was a dumbass. "Hat-and-Clogs, never act like that again. Arrogance is not a good look on anyone's face, especially on your ugly mug. It just makes you look like you are mentally challenged." the mohawked teen snarked, taking a potshot at the stupidly dressed man.

His sibling followed up with his own comment. "Though you do an excellent job of that already with your dopey clothes and overall looks, you dumbshit." He grinned maliciously at his remark. Yoruichi fell to the ground and rolled around laughing in the dirt. The two brothers just smirked and high-fived each other in victory. Their friends snickered. While they may have not known the man as long, what the blond said definitely summed the ex-captain in a nutshell.

The aforementioned "dumbshit" just sulked in the corner, drawing circles in the sand and mumbling, "Why do my students always pick on me? These are clothes I like and fit me and my style well. And I'm not challenged mentally. Why me?" To the onlookers, he was just being a big pouting baby, and they continued to laugh at his misfortune, his best friend especially.

After five minutes of hysterical laughter, the sole female exile finally stopped laughing and stood up. She said, "Whew! Alright Kisuke, stop your pouting and get over here. We need to get back to business."

Faster than the human eye could see, the genius popped up like nothing had happened at all and sported a cheery grin as if he was bipolar, switching from one mood to the next. "Randy, reseal your Zanapakutos like Ichigo did, if you don't mind."

He did so and the longsword and dagger turned back into a katana. "God, you three are just terrifying. Not only does your mixed heritage allow you to have superhuman abilities in your soul form, but it has bled over and manifested into your human body, which I had already figured out from . Add in the fact that all of you may just have Dual Zanpakuto and you could very well have three captain-class warriors who'd just mow down just about any enemy that would be thrown at you. I feel sorry for any human who tried to pick a fight with you, they would get demolished." Kisuke said in an awe-filled tone.

A couple seconds later, the orange-haired teen appeared next to the group with both of his swords released. "How was training with Zangetsu, Ichigo?" asked Kisuke.

"Productive, to say the least. They explained the abilities and attacks my Shikai has and in addition, they helped me gain experience using my abilities and release state by having me practice them and spar with them inside my Inner World using both blades as well as just the larger blade. But jeez, dude. The old man and Zangetsu are... I guess an appropriate description would be 'battle maniacs'. Though that fact probably says a lot about me as well as my personality." He snickered a little when he thought about it, it did describe him to a point as well. "Moving on, they told me that when I release my Shikai, all of my natural abilities are exponentially increased. It's kind of scary to think about the potential it has if that's just my Shikai, imagine my Bankai. One of the attacks I have is this..." Ichigo drew his giant Khyber knife and held it steady while looking straight at a large rock formation. He reached back with his sword and swung forward in an arc. "Getsuga Tensho!" he roared.

A black crescent of spirit energy shot out from the sword and zoomed toward the rocks, hitting it and completely demolishing it. His girlfriend and Kisuke widened their eyes in shock, as did Bennett and Randy.

Ichigo held his free hand up to stop them from talking. "I can also unleash that attack from my smaller blade too. I can do something else as well." He pulled out his knife and proceeded to replicate the motion he performed with the larger sword. "Getsuga Jujisho!" A gold-colored cross of energy reminiscent of an "X" appeared, racing to a just as large second rock and eradicated it, with no sign of the target left over.

"Hold on, I got one more." The strawberry held out his weapons in a ninety degree angle and shouted out, "Tsuki no Kohai-sha!" Two large and extremely hot laser beams of energy showed up from the tips and scorched the ground while shooting towards the wall and leaving a large crater in it.

The owner of the facility was less than pleased. "Thanks a lot, Ichigo! You destroyed part of my training area!" Kisuke ranted.

"You're a genius, Hat-and-Clogs. You can rebuild it in no time, so why should this bother you?" questioned the orangette.

Urahara sighed in resignation. "Anyway, I have seen your Getsuga Tensho before, it's your dad's primary attack. Looks like you inherited the ability from him since you're his child and have a Getsu Zanpakuto. Randy and Bennett most likely will have a Getsuga Tensho and Jujisho attack and your natural skills increase as well because of them having two swords and being your siblings, though since each Zanpakuto is unique, they probably will not have your last attack but something else. " He looked at the time on his watch. "Bennett and Randy can go take a break. Orihime, Tatuski, and Chad can continue their training with Yoruichi. Ichigo, you should go home and rest for now. I recommend you continue practicing in your Inner World while you sleep because the experience will transfer over to your in the real world."

"Sounds good to me. See you guys."

* * *

Over the next week, the training went extremely well. All of them made improvements to themselves to make sure they were ready for the invasion. Chad learned how to enhance his punch with his spirit energy, Tatsuki was taught by the Shihoin princess on the Hakuda fighting style and learned some new techniques with her electricity, Orihime strengthened her shields so they would break as easily, and Uryu practiced honing his skills and trained to learn new attacks.

Meanwhile, the three Substitute Soul Reapers were improving by leaps and bounds. They each had Uryu train them in Hirenkyaku to give them an edge (they recently had an idea that they wanted to experiment with, but they needed Tia and Nel to join them in Karakura Town and teach them about Arrancar techniques). Not only that, Randy learned the exponential skill increase and their signature Getsuga Tensho as well the Getsuga Jujisho and his own special attack unique to him, the Nagareboshi Satsujin, a column of highly explosive spirit energy that erupted from the ground like a geyser when the two swords were stabbed into the ground. As Ichigo had done with his own Zanpakuto spirits, he named them as well, the Hollow spirit was Gaigetsu and the Quincy spirit was Jugo. Another piece of good news was that Bennett unlocked his Shikai which had pleased him greatly, but he really didn't like what Kisuke had tried to do to get back at him for the comments he and his brother had made about his style of clothes and intelligence after he had acquired the release state.

* * *

The raven-haired Kurosaki skidded back against the dirt as Urahara kept going after his hair, making the punk teen pissed off. No matter what he did, the stubborn bastard just never went for anywhere but the hair on the top of his head. 'I'm guessing this is payback for calling him mentally challenged and poking fun at his clothes and looks.'

_**"Nooooo, what makes you say that, Bennett?"**_ said his Hollow spirit sarcastically.

'You're mocking me, aren't you?'

_**"Well I'm certainly not asking you out on a date, that's Tia's job, hahaha!"**_

_"You moron, you are not helping anything by being an sarcastic dipshit.'_ the redheaded Quincy fragment pointed out.

While the conversation in his head was going on, the pervert located outside of Bennett's Inner World poured on the intensity of his attacks. The slashing and swinging increased in power and forced Bennett on the defense yet again.

However, the reflections continued to talk with their wielder. 'Any advice, you guys? What am I not understanding that is preventing me from attaining Shikai?' he spoke to the voices in his head.

_"Looks like you need one last push to do this. Do you know when you are at your strongest, Bennett?"_

'I'm not really sure, I think it would be when I'm fighting and I have trained myself to win that fight.'

_"You are partially correct and while training may be a great assistance for fighting, that is not what I am talking about. You fight at your highest level when you are fighting for something you believe in. Do you understand?"_

'I think so, you're saying that when I fight for a cause I believe is righteous or just, I will be stronger than ever.' Bennett answered.

_"Yes, but what if someone says your cause is false or they want you to stop fighting for that cause? Would you no longer fight for what you believe in? Or what about when they want to kill you just for being on the side of one they themselves don't see as right? Would you waver and give up to stay safe? The Soul Society may very well do any of these things to you, Bennett. Do you know what I am trying to get you to realize?"_ asked the mohawked redhead.

The Kurosaki teen nodded his head. 'To be at my strongest and very best, I must fight for a cause I believe in. And when someone tries to sway my mind, I cannot waver or stray from my path. I mustn't compromise my beliefs no matter what happens or is said to me.'

Both reflections grinned. _**"That is what we wanted to hear. You've unlocked your first release state, release your Shikai!"**_

"SHUGETSU!"

* * *

The theme for Bennett's Shikai state was the same as his brothers', a large blade and a small blade, which was not surprising to Kisuke when he saw it and confirmed his theory. The Shikai was the combination of a black nodachi with a wider blade than normal as the bigger weapon and a similarly colored tanto to go with it as the smaller counterpart.

As with Ichigo and Randy, he knew the ability upgrade, both Getsuga attacks and his own attack, the Soradesukyanon, a barrage of speedy cannonball-sized energy orbs that came from the tips of the blades and fired just by pointing the tips at the target. It was just as destructive as his siblings' abilities. Another thing was Bennett following in their footsteps, calling the Hollow reflection Shugetsu and the Quincy spirit Bazz, as to give them their own identities and not confuse them when he talked to both.

Like their former sparring partner, they also received training in Hakuda to gain an edge, though Yoruichi said they would not need to train much in the art since they had practiced karate and the Soul Society was basically a dimension that was sort of stuck in a past Japanese time period, they most likely hadn't seen other fighting styles other than the standard Soul Reaper hand-to-hand combat style and Bennett, Ichigo, and Randy could mix up and combine both styles to surprise their opponents. All in all, they were very close to being ready to rescue Rukia.

It was the last week of training and Ichigo and Yoruichi decided to go on a walk around the town and a date to relax and take time off from training while Randy and Bennett spent time at the empty park listening to some music to pass the time.

A little while later into the day, something major happened. A garganta opened up in a secluded area in the town and a few female figures fell out and collapsed to the ground, one of them closing the rip in space and shutting the portal to Hueco Mundo before they had crumpled in a heap.

All five of the women slowly dragged themselves to a grassy area, their wounds starting to paint the grass. The woman wearing a jacket told her companions, "We're out of there, for good... though it might have been for nothing, if we don't get medical attention soon, we will die here for sure."

One of her allies thought of an idea that could save them "We should try flaring our spiritual pressure, maybe they'll find us if we do." They did so at the same time they slumped against a large tree. All that was left was to hope for the best.

While Ichigo and Yoruichi walked around the the restaurant district in the downtown area, they sensed the pressures and initially assumed a group of Hollows had snuck into the World of the Living, but upon reading the signatures a second time, both of them realized the presences were comprised of Soul Reaper and Hollow spirit energy and belonged to several injured Arrancars. They exited their bodies and rushed toward the source to see what was wrong.

Meanwhile, the two brothers at the park continued to be at ease and listen to the music on their phones when they felt the strong, but quickly fading pulses of five different spiritual pressures, two of them they were intimately familiar with. They recognized the two pressures almost instantly.

"Oh no, no no no no no. This can't be happening! Please don't let her be dead!" cried the taller boy.

"Why did it have to be her, I never wanted her to get hurt! Oh god, I need to find her before she dies!" wailed the other teen simultaneously.

They each popped their Mod-Soul into their mouths and exited their bodies, telling their replacements to go to Kisuke's and wait for them there. Leaving no room for argument, the two substitutes combined both Hirenkyaku and Flash Step to go faster than they had ever gone.

Arriving at the grassy clearing where the pressures were located, they were shocked to see their other halves for the first time in person. Unfortunately, there was no time for that as they saw the wounds on Tia, her Fracciones, and Nel's bodies, their clothes sporting slashes and cuts, and the dirt and blood covering them.

"TIA/NEL!" they both screamed in agony.

The bombshells opened their eyes and smiled weakly. 'They are really here, we can finally be together. Randy's much more handsome now that I am seeing him in the flesh for the first time.' "Randii... you came. I'm so happy..." coughed out the ram horned Arrancar.

"It's nice to finally see you outside of your Inner World for the first time, Benetto. " Pain racked Tia's body, her entire being felt cold, which wasn't a good sign.

They scooped the two women into their arms bridal style. "You are _not_ dying on us, you understand? You two are too strong for that!" Randy said. "We're going to get you help, just hang on."

Yoruichi and her boyfriend arrived on the scene just as his brothers hoisted the busty blonde bombshell and her equally busty verdette friend and widened their eyes when they saw what the problem was. "Is that—"

"Yes, it's them. Yoruichi, call Kisuke now, inform him of the situation, and get him to have Tessai ready to administer medical aid! They are in danger of dying!" Bennett shouted in a panic. "Carry Tia's Fracciones to the shop, they are in equally bad shape. Hurry!" They blurred out of existence, using the same combination of Quincy and Soul Reaper travel techniques to travel back.

Yoruichi got out her personal cell phone and called her friend who picked up on the second ring. "Kisuke, I don't have time for your stupid antics and bullshit right now. Help Tessai get the rooms in the shop prepared for 5 people who need immediate first aid. Do it right now, this is a matter of life and death!" She ended the call and shoved the device back into her pocket of her leggings. "Do you think you are able to carry two of them at once quickly? I know you have the strength, I'm asking if you can do it while using your unfinished technique without dropping them." she asked her soulmate.

"Yes, I can definitely do that. Let's hurry." He placed Mila Rose and Apacci on his back and looped their arms around his neck while his lover picked up Sung-Sun and put the snake Arrancar over her shoulder. They secured the 3 females, nodded to each other, and disappeared from sight from using their high-speed travel abilities with an extreme sense of urgency, making their way to the Urahara Shop.

But what none of them wanted to think about was a single question looming at the back of their minds...

What exactly would Bennett and Randy do if they did _not_ save the two Arrancars and their comrades?

That was a scenario no one wanted to experience...

* * *

**And done. As always, read and review. And no flaming, please (and holy shit, my longest chapter yet. Damn, 8,000 words).**

**I originally had an almost entirely different concept of how Bennett's Shikai would be and look like when I first talked to my anonymous friend who was giving advice to me on this story. You remember them, right? I talked about them in the second chapter. Well, I decided to go with a different idea instead of my first one. I had the idea and I thought about using it, but upon some further thinking and visualization, I realized it would not work as well as the one that is in the story. The Shikai I envisioned was a pair of katanas combined with either a kusarigama (if you don't know what that is, look up the For Honor Shinobi hero's weapons and it is an accurate visual of the real thing) or rope-dart (the most similar weapon to Mortal Kombat's Scorpion's chained kunai). Looking back on the concept, I don't think Bennett would have been able to fight battles with weapons like that and it would be hard to write the fights as well. Fortunately, I figured out a better solution and idea, and the new Shikai is the one I came up with. Randy's Shikai was in the same boat, though it had some parts stay the same (the knuckledusters/brass knuckles). It would have been a katana either held normally or in a reverse grip, depending on the scenario, with the duster connected to where the hand would go, and a combat knife always held in a reverse grip, also with a knuckleduster on the spot.**

**If anyone was looking forward to Dual Zanpakutos that were conceptually different from Ichigo's, I am sorry if I disappointed you (I also apologize to my anonymous friend for the same thing), but I have a reason. The way I see it, since the three main characters are triplets and have a manifestation of their Quincy powers and their Hollowfied Zanpakuto spirit, which come from White being split between them, as representations as their powers/heritage, they are bound to have a similar concept for weapons to the other two. In canon, Aizen created the circumstances which lead to Ichigo being born and him being the unique result of Aizen's experiment. Benetto, Randii, and Ichigo are brothers, so it would actually make sense for this to happen and there is some logic behind this line of thinking. Just think about this if I did not do what you wanted to see.**

**One last thing: the google translations for the original attacks I created. I shall list them for you:**

**Tsuki no Kohai-sha: Moon Devastator. **

**Nagareboshi Satsujin: Falling Star Homicide. (The name is a reference to a song by Nu metal band Emmure, which itself is a reference to the Dragon Ball series)**

**Soradesukyanon: Solar Death Cannon.**

**Crash, out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the next chapter for you guys. Enjoy.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

If there really was someone up in the heavens watching over the world, then Bennett and Randy would have kicked their ass down to Hell and back just for allowing the two women in their lives to get hurt. They didn't really believe in the Shinto faith like many other Japanese natives did since their mother had European ancestry from being a Quincy and was of the Christian faith. The Kurosaki matriarch raised all of her children as Christian and few people actually knew that fact (Ryuken Ishida and his family were a major percentage of the number of individuals who were privy to this information, due in part to being Christian as well). And though the three brothers were members of one of the three Biblical religions, they never really believed there really was a God that guided them everyday and supposedly had a plan and destiny for everyone. They thought it was complete bullshit and always stressed the fact that nothing was set in stone and they made their own choices and decided their own fate.

But the fact remained that the current situation at hand had really happened, and inside their heads the two siblings cursed up a storm and cussed out every holy deity they could to release their anger. Shaking their heads, they stepped on the gas and continued to speed their way toward the Urahara Shop while carrying the two wounded Arrancars.

After making great time while using their enhanced Flash Step with Yoruichi and Ichigo following closely behind them, they all arrived at the shop and knocked on the door. It opened and Kisuke stood in the doorway with a grim look on his face. "Bring them in quickly, we have already set up the room." he said with an underlying tone of urgency in his voice.

The four Soul Reapers rushed in quickly and set down the five women on mats covered with sheets lying on the floor. Tessai immediately got to work, putting damp cloths on their foreheads and cleaning and bandaging their injuries. Once he had stopped the blood loss and finished dressing their wounds, he turned to his pupils and employer/conspirator. "They are now stable and out of the critical zone, Kisuke. You boys were correct in having Lady Shihoin call us, if we hadn't been prepared for you to bring them to the shop, this could have turned out much worse." praised the tall man to the brothers for their quick thinking.

Kisuke nodded and the boys sighed in relief. The shopkeeper asked the arrivals, "I want to know how this happened. Start from the beginning, don't leave out anything. Since all of you were in separate parts of the town, you need to tell me both of your sides so I can get a better understanding."

"Yoruichi and I were downtown and walking when both of us sensed five different spiritual pressures that we recognized to be of Arrancars after a second reading. We exited our bodies, Flash Stepped to the signatures, and saw my brothers each holding a blood covered Tia and Nel in their arms and their friends lying against a tree with blood on them as well. They explained the situation, told her to call you, and Flash Stepped to the shop. She did so and we then carried their companions and followed them here." Ichigo explained to Kisuke.

"I see. Randy, Bennett, what happened on your side?"

Randy started to speak. "Well, we were sitting in the park..." he stopped for a moment, he was starting to feel woozy. "Ugh... hey, I'm not doing too hot, I—" He never finished his sentence because he started swaying a little on his feet and proceeded to fall straight on his ass.

Yoruichi widened her eyes and dropped to her knees, catching the blond and preventing him from falling backward and smacking his cranium. "Woah there, Randy! You're not looking too good." And she was right, the teen was looking a bit pale and sweating a little. She held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

He tried to answer, "Thr—" Unfortunately, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he lost consciousness and fell to the floor. The woman made an attempt to get him to respond, but she was interrupted by his taller sibling going down on one knee while groaning in pain and putting a hand to his head.

The sole redhead in the room kneeled down to his brother's side but was interrupted by the raven-haired teen crumpling in a heap and passing out as well. "Bennett? Benetto? What's going on?" he asked in a worried voice. "Urahara, what just happened?" Ichigo asked his mentor.

All of them then felt a signature coming from a secure area in the shop and Kisuke and Tessai recognized it and knew immediately what it was coming from. 'Why is it reacting now of all times? This is not a coincidence for two of them to get knocked out and that device to react a few seconds later.' wondered the blond man. He left the room and returned a few minutes later carrying a small box in his hands. He opened it and a light appeared from the box. Turning it around to show the rest of the occupants, his actions were met with narrowed eyes and curiosity.

"Hat-and-Clogs, what is this? What I'm feeling from this crystal, there's no spirit energy coming from it. It's only the presence that I am sensing and it is above anything I have ever felt. Just what exactly is that thing?" inquired Ichigo.

He sighed. "This is the Hogyoku. I created during my time as the Captain of Squad 12 and Head of the Department of Research and Development. At the time, I did not know or understand what I had invented at the time and even now I don't fully understand everything about it. It is powerful beyond belief and what Aizen has been after ever since our exile since I used it to stabilize the captains and lieutenants that he experimented on," the former captain explained. "I believe that it seems to be reacting to your brothers and their female friends. I'll show you what I mean." He walked over to the group of four lying on the ground and held out the box towards them.

The crystal glowed brightly in response to Kisuke doing this and the man set the box down next to them. "We need to wait for all of them to wake up. I think the Hogyoku responded to Bennett and Randy wanting to save Tia and Nel and caused them to become unconscious. All we can do is wait and make sure they are alright, but we should continue to look after and treat Miss Halibel's Fraccion." He had Tessai carry the two teens and lay them next to the two women so when they woke up, they would see they were in good hands and with their soulmates.

Ichigo reluctantly dropped the subject and agreed. "I will call my dad and our friends and explain to them what happened since they'll need to know about this too."

"Go right ahead."

* * *

The next day, the group of four still hadn't awakened from their slumber and Ichigo was starting to get worried. His friends had come to the shop after he called them the previous afternoon and, except for Uryu since they previously had a conversation on the subject of Randy and Bennett's loves and he accepted them (he had already known that his cousins were part Hollow, but it did not matter to him because they were family), were surprised at the five Arrancar women lying on the ground covered in blankets and bandages. Tatsuki had asked who they were and why they each had a Hollow hole somewhere on their bodies and a bone fragment on their head. He explained and they accepted the answer and supported the two boys, knowing that Bennett and Randy cared for and trusted the blonde and verdette immensely. Orihime was a little frightened at hearing they were Hollows evolved into a human form but never said anything because she had faith in the boys trusting the women, so she pushed the fears to the back of her mind. The four friends then decided to train with Yoruichi more to pass the time while Ichigo watched over his brothers.

He had also called Isshin after his friends and made him aware of what occurred. His father immediately wanted to rush over to the shop to watch over his sons, but the strawberry blond told him to tell Karin and Yuzu that they would not be coming home that night and take care of them. The former Shiba finally agreed after a lot of convincing, but he still wanted to be there for his eldest children. Ichigo silently gave the moron credit for finally being somewhat of a proper parent, though it wasn't much because he still was an idiot most of the time.

Fortunately, Sung-Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose had woken up a few hours after Ichigo had contacted his family and immediately asked where they were when they remembered what happened earlier in the day. Ichigo told them and said they were with friends who wouldn't judge them just for being evolved Hollows. Apacci then noticed Tia and Nel on the floor knocked out and she flipped out, demanding to know what they had done to her master and trying to move the blonde away from her love but ending up causing the two to moan, "No..." in pain while they were asleep which shocked the deer Arrancar. Luckily, the lioness of the three stopped her and apologized to the teen before the brash female did anything else and potentially cause more damage.

Shrugging off the outburst, the Shihoin woman then told them that their master and her fellow ex-Espada were saved by their soulmates, but he and his blond brother had passed out from a reaction to a device they had in their possession. She didn't specifically say it was the Hogyoku because while they knew the two former Third Espadas were trustworthy and wanted out from under Aizen's control to be with their soulmates, they didn't know the tanned woman's Fracciones as well and refrained from giving away any crucial information until they knew them better and could fully trust the three females, which was understandable since they were dealing with deserters. However, Yoruichi did say that her best friend believed that what was occurring could be the result of them starting to become connected more than before since the device had knocked them out while they were trying to save the two women.

Sung-Sun, being the most intelligent and calmest of the group, knew that Tia had been with Benetto in his Inner World many times and there was a similar situation with the other two soulmates, and she made the assumption that this could have been happening again with all of them and shared her thoughts with her allies as well as their saviors. And it sort of made sense to them because they all had known of the communication between both pairs.

After they properly introduced themselves to the people currently in the Urahara Shop, Kisuke created Gigais for them that completely hid their spirit energy and spiritual pressure and gave them new clothes to wear while they were in their soul forms and faux bodies. The clothes were so they wouldn't be recognized as former soldiers of Aizen's army, something the three definitely appreciated. He suggested they continue to rest from being in bad condition after coming to Karakura and their high-speed regeneration not healing them all the way, and he asked for the group of women to tell them when the four lovers woke up what exactly happened to them and what forced them to flee to the World of the Living with the injuries they received. They agreed wholeheartedly, knowing it was important to explain the incident and what had taken place since it would help to get it off their chests.

By the time the deer, lioness, and snake-themed females finally recovered fully, it was already getting dark and the groups of friends needed to leave for their respective residences. Kisuke made the executive decision to have the Arrancars stay with them while their comrades rested, all parties consenting to the idea and not finding anything wrong with the plan. He arranged for Apacci and Sung-Sun to stay with Orihime and Mila Rose with Chad, with the dark-skinned female blushing slightly and having a grin on her face from having the opportunity to stay in the same house with, in her own private thoughts, 'a hunk like him'. Nobody noticed the grin or blush though since the situation was a little dire at the current time. They left the shop for the night and came back the next morning only to see no change in the heavy sleepers with Kisuke and Tessai using some healing kido, Yoruichi watching over them, and Ichigo pacing back and forth and not being able to stop panicking somewhat.

"Ichigo, calm down! You can't stress yourself over this, you'll cause yourself to get a headache or pop a blood vessel," scolded his oldest friend, but the Substitute just couldn't relax and kept wearing down the carpet with his moving back and forth. "ICHIGO, LISTEN TO ME AND STOP WALKING AROUND! CALM THE HELL DOWN AND RELAX FOR A GODDAMN MOMENT!" she yelled in irritation.

"I cannot help it, Tatsuki! They're not waking up, we don't know what exactly is causing this to happen, and there's nothing I can do about it! The only knowledge we have of what could be happening is what Sung-Sun said and even then it's only just a single possibility out of many. So no, I can't calm down! Not when my siblings and their happiness are potentially at risk!" he angrily shouted back.

Yoruichi sensed the growing tension between the two friends and intervened. "That's enough from both of you! It's obvious this situation is starting to get to us, but you two cannot be starting a pissing contest right now because this is not the time nor place for it. You both need to cool off and calm down," she shouted at the both of them. "Come on, Ichigo. Let's go for a walk and talk, it'll take your mind off the situation right now and give you something else to think about." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door of the shop into the street.

Mila Rose turned to Chad and Uryu to ask a question. "Wow, Ichigo's really worried about his brothers and Master Halibel and Nelliel. He really cares about them, doesn't he?"

Uryu nodded. "He does and it has a lot to do with their mother. She died six years ago protecting Ichigo from a Hollow named Grand Fisher that Aizen sent after him. There was a second person, the First Quincy, involved in her death, but he was turned into a Hollow and sent to Hell by Urahara after he tried to take Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett's Quincy abilities like he did with Masaki not knowing that the boys had Hollow blood flowing through their veins," he elaborated. "From what I understand and learned from Urahara, they got revenge on Grand Fisher some time ago and purified him."

The three females frowned in disgust. "Grand Fisher. We have heard of that asshole, we avoided him whenever we could since he was despicable and cruel, Master Halibel thought that when he was finally taken done for good he would be sent to Hell to rot. I guess he didn't sin during his human life," growled the horned woman. "We never knew Aizen sicked Fisher on them. Him sending that bastard after a young Ichigo and his mother who couldn't protect themselves? That's evil no matter how you spin it. I won't pretend I know what it feels like to lose someone close to me, but I can understand how it would make them feel. If I lost my master, I'd be crushed and wouldn't know what to do anymore." she said somberly.

"I think Ichigo would be glad to hear you say that." the Quincy said. Wanting to extend an olive branch to them, he asked, "So what's your story? How did you meet Tia and Nel?"

Sung-Sun answered, "We were each saved in separate incidents by our master from male Hollows that wanted to devour us and she asked all of us to travel with her as a group to protect ourselves since female Hollows are generally targeted by males for food more often because they are seen as weaker. We all agreed and became our own dysfunctional family of sorts. As for Master Nelliel, we didn't meet her directly since she was the predecessor to Master Halibel, but we heard rumors and stories about how she disappeared from Las Noches. Our master knows all the details about what really went down, but the gist of the real story was a long while before we had reluctantly joined Aizen, an Espada that hated her predecessor with a passion attacked her with aid from a lower ranked Arrancar and damaged her mask, somehow turning her into a young child. He tossed her and her subordinates Pesche and Dondochakka, who had their mask fragments ripped off by him, out of the fortress and all traces of them vanished. Aizen never punished the two Arrancars responsible for their actions and that greatly sickened Master Halibel."

Kisuke said, "From what I can sense from Nel, she is leaking a moderate amount of spirit energy and the leak is concentrated around the scar on her face and the crack on her fragment. Do you think this might be why she became a child?"

"It's quite possible, she might be able to provide a better explanation when she wakes up. Anyway, some time before we left Hueco Mundo, our master told us about your cousins and how she and Master Nelliel were their soulmates and we ventured into the desert looking for her and her Fracciones. We soon found her in her child form and Master Halibel helped her regain her memories which resulted in her regaining her adult form, after that we decided to all defect together when we had the opportunity, but that happened earlier than we had planned as you can see," continued Mila Rose. "We'll explain everything about how we were manipulated by Aizen and roped into his schemes and what forced us to come here early when they wake up, the first event is a little sensitive for us and coming here needs to be explained by all of us to get the entire picture." she finished.

"We could have Orihime heal the damage on Nel's mask to help her recovery and potentially keep her in her adult form since Miss Inoue's powers have a form of healing as part of her rejection abilities. Would that be okay with you three?" inquired the owner of the Urahara Shop.

"That's fine. It may just speed up her recovery and instant regeneration. Do what you need to do." Sung-sun replied.

* * *

While the group back at the Urahara shop conversed, the two lovers walked around the town to help the strawberry calm down. Slowly but surely, Ichigo began to clear his head and cool down. "Yoruichi, I don't know what to do. We are going to the Soul Society to rescue Rukia soon, we need to finish training so we can be prepared, Kisuke said something about getting help or something from friends of his who were similar to us and that still has not occurred, and now this just happened which throws a wrench into our preparations. ARGH! I'm frustrated and I can't do shit about anything!"

His girlfriend wrapped an arm around his waist. "It'll be okay, Ichigo. You three are tough customers, they'll bounce back quickly. Have some faith in your brothers and their soulmates." She guided him to a bench in the park and they sat down. "Tessai and Kisuke are doing what they can to help them out. They are masters of Kido and know what they are doing."

He sighed. "I know and I cannot help but worry though. I don't want Yuzu and Karin to lose their older siblings, it would crush them."

The chocolate-skinned Soul Reaper smiled. "And that's what makes you a good brother." She kissed his cheek to show she supported him. "Don't fret anymore, just relax."

He looked at her and smiled. "Okay, you win. I'll relax some." Wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling the petite woman to his side which allowed her rest her head on his own shoulder, they sat there in peace not wanting to disrupt the happy moment.

"So what was life in the Seireitei before you left? You had to know some people there other than Soifon and your fellow exiles. I mean, you do help Kisuke with updating his information on the place since you used to be the leader of the Stealth Force and have skills involving espionage, reconnaissance, infiltration, etc. in your arsenal." he asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Hmm, where should I start?" she wondered with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well, I was born into the Shihoin Noble Clan and eventually became Head of my clan as well as, you know this already, Stealth Force Commander and Squad 2 Captain. I grew up with Tessai and Kisuke in the clan compound and we were always around each other a majority of the time. I hated many of the snooty, arrogant nobles in the Soul Society because they were conniving and always scheming to make power plays within the government and the Four Great Noble Clans of the Soul Society. Almost everyone had an ulterior motive behind their actions and it didn't matter how little the action was, there was a secret reason they did what they did every time. To me, life as a noble was stuffy and constrictive and I was never comfortable being someone who I wasn't. Damn clan elders and those sticks shoved up their wrinkly asses." she huffed when she remembered the elders and advisors of her clan who always tried to enforce their will and what they believed a proper noble should be like. Then she let out a cat-like grin when she recalled telling them to buzz off or, as she put it so eloquently on one occasion, "Get that surgery to remove the massive poles up their asses already."

Ichigo chuckled a little. "Thinking of something funny, kitten?" he teased slightly.

Yoruichi snickered. "Just something I said before to some people I didn't like. Anyway, I became good friends and drinking buddies with one of the Shibas, the clan Isshin came from. Kukaku Shiba is her name and boy is she ever feisty. In a way, Tatsuki is a bit like her, taking shit from no one and being hot headed. Those traits kind of run in the Shiba family and there are very few clan members who aren't like that. I would hang out with her whenever I had the time just to unwind from my posts and have some fun drinking. Kukaku's a heavy drinker and can outdrink nearly everyone else in the Seireitei and not be drunk off her ass. Even I cannot keep up with her much of the time and I have a high tolerance for booze. Though from what I can understand, ever since her clan's decline in significance and their removal from being one of the Great Noble Clans of the Soul Society some years ago, she moves around the Rukon District with her house and two servants a lot, never really staying in one place for too long. Her brother, Ganju, has a tendency to wander around the District along with his little group of 'tough guys', and they sometimes get involved in small bar fights or scuffles with other residents, but the fights aren't really that big and Ganju is a bit of pansy who likes to talk a big game but can't back it up sometimes and fights like a rookie fresh out of the Academy. Kukaku likes to beat him up or smash her fist upside his head whenever he says or does something stupid and that can at times escalate into him getting hit by her even more because of him yelling at or arguing with her, and he never really learns from the experiences because he does the same thing over and over." She laughed fondly at the memories of those particular incidents.

"He sounds like a wuss and an idiot as well as somewhat of a nutcase. How exactly is a guy that much of a dumbass related to my dad and our family? Wait... scratch that, you really don't need to answer since that last part is a pretty accurate description about Goat-chin. Is there anyone who you knew in the 13 Court Guard Squads or in the Seireitei and rest of the Soul Society other than Kisuke and the others?"

In fact, there were some people that she knew well during her time as Leader of Squad 2. "Actually, yes. There are a few that come to mind. There's Soifon, who I told you about as well as who replaced me as Captain of Squad 2 and Head of the Stealth Force, Byakuya Kuchiki, he actually used to be a pupil of mine and now heads Squad 6, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Kisuke's former 3rd Seat and current Captain of Squad 12. In addition, there's also Jushiro Ukitake, Captain of Squad 13, he has been one of the longest serving captains for some time and shares that title with three others: Retsu Unohana, Squad 4's Captain, Shunsui Kyoraku, Commanding Officer of Squad 8, and the Head Captain and Leader of Squad 1, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, though you know who he is already since Byakuya told you about him."

Ichigo remembered she never said what her close confidante and bodyguard/pupil was like, just who she was. "What's Soifon like in terms of attitude and personality? You didn't really say much about that aspect of her." he asked his lover.

"I told you that my Little Bee was my first student and bodyguard, but unfortunately her attitude was way too serious and rigid and I never really got her to loosen up or relax and have a bit of fun. She had a bit of an obsession with Kisuke and how 'he wasn't fit to be a Captain'. She actually observed and spied on/stalked him for a little bit to prove to me she was right, even going so far as to give me a list of his flaws." She remembered that little occurrence particularly well. Yoruichi let out a slight chuckle when she said, "It was so detailed and I actually thought Soifon was crushing on the pervert and listed what she liked about him. I think she still kind of focused her anger on and blamed him, as well as me, when we left, though that might just be her still unhealthily obsessing over him, and it didn't help her attitude which possibly got worse, since nowadays she's angry a lot and is a massive stickler for the laws created by the Central 46. Ukitake is a kind man and often looks out for and has a good relationship with his subordinates, Rukia's assigned to his squad actually. Not only that, he is probably one of the most humble nobles in the Seireitei and never lords his status or position over anyone. Unfortunately, he's often absent from his duties due to an chronic illness that has afflicted for almost all of his life, but he tries to do what he can to help lessen the load on his two 3rd Seats that do the paperwork and run the squad when he's bedridden."

The young man sitting next to her nodded. "He sounds like a guy I could get along with and admire. Being a humble man definitely makes me respect him more."

Yoruichi agreed, but gained a noticeable frown when she said, "Byakuya had a pole up his ass much like a lot of the other nobles from what I could see during the times I met with and instructed him, and I saw his attitude every time I would train him and it definitely could have used some improvement. I don't know who he inherited it from since his grandfather was not like that ever and I never met his parents." Her frown was replaced with her trademark smirk when she flashed back to her antics during his training. "You're gonna laugh at this: During the times I trained him in Flash Step, I would mess and tease him, stealing his hair tie and forcing him to chase after me to get it back."

Ichigo laughed at hearing about the mischief and headaches his soulmate caused for the jackass who cut him and his siblings up. "Holy shit, that is priceless! I can actually picture that in my head. And Zangetsu is just laughing and cackling at that image."

_**"Damn straight! And it serves the asshole right for that stunt of his!"**_ the crazed spirit howled with glee.

"I know! He would get so angry at me when I did that. Ginrei Kuchiki, his grandfather, was the Head of the Kuchiki Clan during the time he was learning from me and Byakuya took over his clan in the years we were gone. I don't know what he's like now, but from what you three told us when we brought you to the shop after he attacked you, he probably has not changed much after all this time. I don't know Kurotsuchi as well as Kisuke does because I only met him a handful of times when I visited Kisuke at his squad's barracks, but the man's not exactly... stable in the mind. Kisuke recruited him straight out of prison and placed him in Squad 12 as an seated officer. He's sadistic and loves to experiment on things to understand them fully. From what I could dig up, not all of the experiments he did were ethical, actually many of them would scar an average man's mind and cause him to lose the contents of his stomach. The guy's done dissections on living subjects without any anesthesia and a lot of other things I won't mention because they're horrific. Kurotsuchi's even done his research, or at least what he calls those experiments of his, on Soul Reapers and even Hollows." She got a little misty-eyed when she began thinking of what the sick bastard would do if he found out about what exactly her students were. "When we go to the Soul Society, I want all of you to avoid him whenever you can. If he somehow finds out that you three are perfect, natural hybrids of all three species in human bodies, he will stop at nothing to dissect you just to find out how you guys tick. He may want even to do the same with your friends because of their abilities. I don't want that to happen to you, Ichigo." She buried her face into her boyfriend's muscular chest when she started thinking how she could live without him. She couldn't, that's how much he meant to her.

He lifted up her chin and looked into her golden eyes with determination while wiping away the tears threatening to spill from them. "It won't, Yoruichi. I'll make sure that doesn't happen ever." He kissed her on her lips and she melted into the kiss, knowing he would be alright.

They pulled apart and held each other's hands. She said to him that she would tell him about the rest of the people later when it was appropriate. "Let's start walking back to the shop. We've spent enough time away from everyone else."

"Okay. I need to check with Kisuke and Tessai about Randy, Bennett, Tia, and Nel's conditions anyway. I hope they've made some progress."

* * *

"And there. Nel's mask fragment no longer has a crack in it and her scar is gone. That should help her recovery." said Orihime who had finished the task of healing Randy's soulmate's remnants of her mask. It took a little longer than healing a normal scar simply because Nel was leaking spirit energy and they had to replace her energy with both Soul Reaper and Hollow energy to help her heal, causing Urahara to ask Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun to put some of theirs into the green-haired ex-Espada. Fortunately, it was successful and helped out the healer immensely with her job.

"Thank you, Orihime. Right now, the best course of action is to continue letting them rest until they wake up and from what I can guess based on the feel of their spiritual pressures, that could very well happen at any moment." said Kisuke. He turned to the three Fracciones and asked, "Can you continue watching over them with Miss Inoue and her friends? I know you'd want to be your master's side as soon she wakes up."

Mila Rose nodded and replied, "We will. If they wake up, all of us will let you know immediately." The shopkeeper acknowledged her confirmation and left to check in with Tessai who had taken a break to rest.

The Karakura inhabitants and their new companions sat down against the wall to wait until the two absent soulmates came back from their walk. Chad produced a deck of playing cards from his pocket that he had borrowed earlier from the glasses-wearing exile and asked if any of them wanted to play some rounds of Bullshit. The rest of them agreed and they played for about thirty minutes and only stopped when they heard Yoruichi and Ichigo come in the door.

"Hey guys," Ichigo greeted the people inside the room. "Any change?"

Apacci sighed. "Mila Rose, Sung-Sun, and I helped Orihime and Mr. Urahara repair Master Nelliel's fragment since the crack on it and her scar was allowing spirit energy to constantly leak from herself, and it helped, though we are not sure how much faster it will help her heal. Other than that, nothing has changed, but Kisuke said they might wake up at any time."

"Well that's better than what I had expected. If they're possibly waking up soon, then we need to make sure that they are alright after giving us such a big scare," said Yoruichi. "The two of us need to check in with Kisuke and Tessai on any theories and observations they made while tending to them. We'll talk later." The two of them walked into another room of the shop and left the seven companions and their sleeping friends alone.

What happened in the fifteen minutes that passed would make waves in the spiritual world and change several lives forever...

The card game continued and they waited until two cracking noises came from the part of the room where the four sleepers were laying down. It caught the attention of everyone, but they couldn't figure out where the sound was originating from. Sung-Sun and Uryu finally determined the sounds were coming from the knocked out people and walked over to the four to check if there was a problem. They saw something that shocked them to the core. "Get over here now! Something's happening!" exclaimed the serpentine woman.

All of them rushed over to the mats and widened their eyes at the sight of cracks forming on Nel's mask fragment. "Ichigo, Yoruichi, Kisuke, Tessai! You need to get in her! We've got a situation!" shouted Tatsuki. The four in the other room rushed in and saw what was taking place.

The cracks on the busty Arrancar's fragment became more and more pronounced and eventually, the ram's skull on her head broke apart and fell to the ground in pieces. The pieces dissipated into nothing, which was eerily reminiscent of a Zanpakuto cutting into a Hollow's mask and purifying it to make it disappear.

"Someone tell me what just happened because I must not be seeing this right. Did all of you see what I saw?" whispered Mila Rose as her face paled in response to what she witnessed. She simply couldn't comprehend what was going on in front of her.

"We all did and I'm not sure I understand anything of this." said Yasutora. Apacci then realized something else and she went as white as a ghost. She removed the covers and her eyes bulged out of their sockets, her slightly tanned face losing any color that was left.

"No way... it's just... gone."

She was talking about Nel's Hollow hole. There was no longer a hole on her torso going straight through. Her creamy, toned stomach was completely smooth and unblemished. It was as if the opening just vanished.

With a shaky voice, the heterochromatic Arrancar gulped and said, "S-sung-sun, c-can you check M-master Halibel?"

Her fellow Fraccion slowly felt her leader's neck and chin under the woman's jacket. She felt no bone. "Nothing." She checked her womb, the spot where Tia's Hollow hole was located, and felt nothing but smooth skin. "Both are gone."

Urahara pulled out the box containing the Hogyoku and opened it. The crystal's previous glow was starting to dim. He quickly came to the conclusion that the powerful object had used its power and made whatever was happening take place. He closed the box and put it back in his robes. 'This is unprecedented. Two Arrancars' mask fragments and holes completely vanish without a trace. Something happened and it had to do with the connection each of them share. They may just wake up now.'

* * *

In two of the soulmates' connected Inner Worlds, Tia and Bennett were holding hands and sitting in the grass on the outskirts of a beach by an ocean that bordered the mountains. "How do you feel, Tia?" he asked his beautiful soulmate who was now dressed in a shihakusho that showed a moderate amount of cleavage. To him, she looked gorgeous in the uniform, but he thought she looked great in anything.

She smiled at him lovingly. "I feel like I'm complete, whole again. I feel like a new woman, it's simply amazing, Benetto." She snuggled into him and he put his arm around her.

"As much I would love to stay here, I think it's time we wake up. We're probably worrying your Fracciones and my friends."

"Shall we go together then?"

"Always." They both disappeared into nothingness, leaving no sign of their presence.

_**"It's about time. Both of them are happy and that's all we ever want for them."**_

**_"Tia and Bennett deserve each other, Shugetsu. Things are looking up for them."_**

_"Agreed. This has been in the making for a long time and we shall see it through to the end."_

* * *

In the other two soulmates' Inner Worlds, Randy and Nel were walking together around the ruins and hills, enjoying their time together. Like Tia, Nel was dressed in a Soul Reaper uniform as well that she pulled off spectacularly. The blond said, "I'm glad we finally met in person. I was worried there was a chance you would not pull through. But I need to know: Do you regret your new changes at all?"

She shook her head. "Not at all, I feel entirely comfortable with them. To be closer with you is all I want and they have done just that. I'm happy that they happened, you don't need to worry about me, Randii."

"That's all I wanted to know, Nel. What do you say we get back and stop making our friends panic so much?"

She giggled and said, "That sounds like a plan to me." And like their counterparts, they vanished.

_**"They really needed something like this to bring them together, Jugo, Gaigetsu."**_

_"Yeah, they couldn't bear to be without each other. They will always be a part of one another."_

_**"And they will change the entire world for the better, no matter what happens to them."**_

* * *

Slowly but surely, the two pairs of soulmates opened their eyes and were greeted with the sight of their friends frantically huddled over them. They all sat up and looked at the group around them.

"Hey everyone."

* * *

**And done. As always, read and review. And no flaming please.**

**You guys didn't expect that to happen, did you? Yeah, I'm kind of an evil bastard. I just love to mess with you all, and I'm not sorry about it.**

**Just to let you know, the statement about there not being a God does not reflect my religious beliefs and I do not mean to offend anyone with that statement. It's just to give some insight on why Randy and Bennett are so angry and their response to what happened.**

**Some good news on my end, Darkflame Universe and a Youtuber covering the game, TheNinjaOfLU, recently streamed a Crash Test on Youtube for its fans yesterday on October 24th to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Lego Universe being released, which is tomorrow on October 26th, and gave some info about the content being put in the game. I watched a lot of the stream and even asked a couple of questions, to which the streamers responded to. And the same Youtuber is doing a live interview stream with the lead developer of the project who will answer questions about Closed Beta and other topics involving the game. I cannot wait!**

**Just a good part of the week I decided to share with you.**

**Crash, out.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I got another chapter for you guys. Enjoy, my friends.**

**Hollow speaking or thinking**

_Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking_

Normal speaking or thinking

* * *

Everyone just stared at the four, not saying a word in response to the weak statement made by them. The silence continued for a quarter of a minute longer until Randy began to get uncomfortable with the looks they were giving them and ended the period of quietness by saying, "What are you all looking at? Is there something on our faces? I'm being completely serious, you guys are really freaking me by not saying anything."

They all sighed in relief. "Oh thank god. I was really freaking out over all of this. First Tia, her Fracciones, and Nel appear with serious injuries, then you two pass out right after we rush them here," said Ichigo while running a hand through his orange hair. "A device Kisuke had in the shop reacted to both of you wanting to save them and forced all of you into a state of unconsciousness. That was yesterday in the early afternoon, each one of you were out for a little over a day."

"Damn, I didn't think what we did would take that long. A whole day? That's twenty-four hours of preparation wasted." groaned Bennett.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at the first part of the statement. "What did you say? Something happened to you four while you were knocked out?"

Urahara interrupted that train of thought. "We can figure that out later. Right now, making sure they are alright is the first thing we should do."

All of the people surrounding the four soulmates quickly dispersed to give them some and Tessai and his employer used a diagnostic Kido to check for any discrepancies in their systems. When they found none, Tessai brought a set of clothes for both Tia and Nel's spirit forms and the Gigais they would be using and the women quickly got dressed and into their new bodies and joined who were already sitting around a pair of circular tables pulled together. Kisuke then asked the five females from Hueco Mundo what happened to cause them to flee the desert world and they gained a solemn look on their faces, indicating something had happened that forced their hand.

Tia went first. "We're not sure how it happened, but somehow someone found out about part of our plans and could have possibly informed Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, though I don't know if that did happen. I think they may have spied on us or overheard us while we were in Las Noches, but I can't be sure, but I know they didn't have the whole picture since we only talked about how we would leave Aizen's army and nothing about who we would meet. The Fifth Espada, Nnoitora Gilga, confronted us with the Fourth Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, and both attacked us after we refused to answer any questions they had, which they took as a sign of guilt. I do not understand how those two had knowledge, however limited it was, of our plan, but I suspect the person who discovered the small bits of information concerning it told them and sent them after us," she told the people in the room. "There were two problems that reared their ugly heads almost immediately. Nnoitora may be weaker than me, but he is unbelievably sadistic, and while Ulquiorra is ranked lower, I have had suspicions that he had hidden a major portion of his strength from the rest of us and my thoughts were proven to be correct. Both made the situation much worse, and we fought them as long as we could to retreat to what was our home before Aizen 'recruited' us." she finished with a sigh. Her soulmate gently grasped her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, and she greatly appreciated the gesture from him.

"Before the two had confronted Master Halibel, they approached Apacci, Mila Rose, and I. They said they had a 'situation', as Ulquiorra put it, involving her and had questions that needed to be answered, and Nnoitora threatened to kill us if we didn't take them to her. We may be strong, but we definitely cannot take on an Espada all by ourselves because we wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight," Sung-sun explained what had occurred before the confrontation. "We took them to her and they asked all of us about what we were up to and why we planned to leave Aizen's forces. None of us responded and Nnoitora didn't like that and immediately assumed we were guilty of all of that, each of them drawing their weapons and firing off a Cero that left us with some injuries and blasted a hole in the palace. We left and Sonidoed away with them following us, but they lost our trail for quite a bit of time." she said.

Mila Rose started talking next. "We stayed in our old hideout for a little while we talked about a strategy to find Master Nelliel and get the hell out of Hueco Mundo. We needed to evade our two pursuers long enough for us to find her and bring her here with us. Master Halibel used Pesquisa to find her and located Master Nelliel and her former Fracciones' spiritual pressures around the sands bordering the outskirts of the Menos Forest. When we found her, we explained what had happened and that we needed to come to Karakura Town as fast as possible."

"I told my companions to run and hide in the Menos Forest. They didn't want to leave me alone to fight against two Espadas, but I gave them my word I would be fine and would see them again someday. They did as I asked and not even twenty seconds after they vanished into the Forest, two powerful Cero shot out and smashed hard into our backs, injuring Tia and her Fracciones even more and causing some moderately severe wounds to appear on my body. We knew immediately that Nnoitora and Ulquiorra had found us. When they appeared and Nnoitora saw me, that animal got a savage grin. I could tell by the look on his face that he was not finished tormenting me yet and wanted to inflict and cause as much damage and pain as possible to me after all the time that had passed since he attacked me the first time and tossed out me and my friends out of Las Noches. He still wasn't satisfied and he had become much more bloodthirsty and violent since I last saw him." Nel interjected after Mila Rose had ended her part. The occupants could tell it was an upsetting subject for her to talk about and didn't ask for any details since she had a defeated look on her face. "We tried to fight them off as much as we could, but our wounds hindered us greatly and we soon couldn't put up much more of a fight. We were essentially running on fumes." Randy rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe and calm her, which helped immensely.

Apacci began to finish the account. "Since Master Nelliel had a lower number of wounds than the rest of us, she opened up a Garganta to Karakura Town and we rushed through it. I was the last through, and before she closed the opening, I saw Nnoitora ready to go after us, but his fellow Espada had held him back and shook his head, saying they could not go after us since Aizen wanted them to stay hidden from the Soul Society until the time was right. Using some of her remaining strength, Master Halibel opened a Garganta and we exited right into the middle of the park where you found us. Even though all of us were wounded, we managed to drag ourselves to a hidden area in the park. Master Nelliel suggested we flare our spiritual pressure to help you find us and it worked. You obviously know the rest." she said.

"I'm sorry all of you had to go through that. We didn't really know if someone else was going to find out about you five defecting since you four only met in Bennett and Randy's Inner World, so this is just something we couldn't predict without knowing more information. And since none of us could get into Hueco Mundo without following a Hollow through a Garganta and alerting Aizen, we couldn't get the needed information to get you out of there." Kisuke apologized to the five women for what happened to them, which they were thankful for. They could definitely understand his reasoning and they didn't hold it against him. "Now that we have addressed that question, there are some others that require answers, specifically Yoruichi's question. What exactly went on while you were unconscious?" he asked.

Nel had a sheepish expression appear on her face. "I guess we need to answer that, don't we?" Urahara nodded. "Well..."

* * *

Nel was sitting by herself with her knees tucked under her chin on a small hill overlooking the ancient ruins in his Inner World. The multitude of grassy hills were never in the Substitute's mind before and she wondered if something had somehow modified the landscape after she had last met her soulmate here. She couldn't think about it any longer because Randy had appeared without warning and she shrieked in surprise. "Randy, don't scare me like that!" she yelled.

"Sorry, Nel. One minute we were taking care of you guys and talking to Hat-and-Clogs, the next I am no longer conscious but here instead." He finally noticed where they were. "The hills were not here before. How did they get here?"

"I don't know." she whispered softly, a forlorn look in her eyes which were watering a little.

Her lover noticed this and sat down beside her. "Nel, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Nel turned to him and hugged him tightly. She was afraid. Afraid of dying and never seeing him again. "Randii, I'm scared. I thought I was going to die and leave you alone." A couple of tears trailed down her cheeks as she buried her head into his shoulder. "If I lost you and could no longer be with you, I would never feel complete. You have made me the happiest I have ever been in a long time, I just don't want it to end."

"Oh, Nel. You're safe now. You don't need to worry, I'll always be by your side. And that's a promise. I love you, Nelliel. Nothing in the world is ever going to change that." he said with a loving tone in his voice.

Nel leaned back a little bit and did something she had been wanting to for a long time ever since she met him. She cupped Randy's face and moved forward, giving him a long, affectionate kiss straight on the lips.

For a split second, Randy was surprised at the kiss but soon returned it with eagerness. 'God, how I have waited to do this. How lucky am I to have this woman as my girlfriend and soulmate.'

They pulled apart and took a breath. "That was my first kiss, Randy. I'm glad it was you who I gave to." she gushed.

"Same here. And it was mine as well," Randy happily responded. "This is kind of out of the blue, but do you think we are here for a reason? It all seems weird that I fell asleep right after we got you to the shop."

_"Indeed you are."_ a voice echoed around the area. Both of the two lovers' heads whipped around and looked around for the source of the voice.

"Who's there?" shouted the blond. After he said that, a large, glowing crystal orb appeared in front of them. They could not sense any spiritual energy coming from the orb and that worried them a bit.

_"Calm yourselves, I mean no harm. I am the device Kisuke Urahara created and used to save the captains and lieutenants Sosuke Aizen experimented on, though while he created me, Urahara does not know the full extent of my capabilities. I am the Hogyoku,"_ the orb spoke in a monotone voice. _"I heard your wish to save your companion and brought both of you here to help Nelliel."_

"Help me? How?" asked Nel.

_"You have both demonstrated that you have a good character and heart and you walk the path of what you believe is right and just and fight for it as well. Your brother and his lover have done the same. That alone shows me you are all worthy of my help. What I will do is help you become complete and restore your heart, Nelliel, making you a true Soul Reaper/Hollow hybrid like Randii."_

The turquoise-haired bombshell gasped. "You can really do that? You can make me like Randy?"

The Hogyoku glowed slightly as if it was somehow making a facial expression. _"I grant the desires of those around me. This task is within my power and I shall do the same for Tia,"_ it replied. _"However, I only play a small fraction of the task. You are able to accomplish much of it yourself. What you must do is confront your past and discover why you lost your heart and became a Hollow. You must move past your despair and find a reason to regain your heart and become complete, then search for it and take it from the despair within yourself that is plaguing you. If you can do this, you will pave the way for other Arrancars to become complete without my help."_

She nodded. "I can do that. If it means being with the one I care about the most, then I will do what I can to accomplish that."

_"Then let us begin."_

* * *

"I really didn't want to meet in person for the first time like this, Bennett." Tia sighed in resignation. She was upset that things had not gone to plan like she hoped. When she found the person who informed those two Espada about part of their plans, she would personally see to it that she tore them limb from limb for ruining everything.

Bennett nodded. "I know, but I'm just happy you were able to get here. It's a good thing we found you and got you to the shop before you lost too much blood. Still, this wasn't the ideal way for this to happen." he said. The newest ex-Espada hummed in agreement.

"Now that all of us have left Hueco Mundo behind and been essentially exiled as long as that bastard is in charge, I really have no idea what we are going to do now and how we will live here." she explained about her and her companions' situation.

He turned his head in confusion at her statement. "What do you mean?" He didn't quite understand what she meant by what she said.

"Well, we don't really have a place to stay in Karakura Town. We could possibly stay at the shop, but I don't want to intrude on your mentors. Plus, if what you told me about Kisuke and his perverted antics is true, then the shop is definitely out of the question," Tia told her soulmate. "We might be able to have Kisuke help set something up for us, but that could take some time to get everything in order and sorted out. I just don't know, this is something that I just can't figure out."

Bennet got what the issue was, and after a bit of thinking, an idea hit him. "Why don't you live with us? Space is not an issue and since each of us have our own room, you could stay in mine with me while Nel bunks with Randy. I would really like it if you stayed with my family and I, I know Randy would like it if Nel did." he suggested.

Her eyes widened and her head snapped quickly to face him. "You'd do that for us, Benetto? You would really do that? I don't want to take advantage of your hospitality and intrude on your family."

He brought her into a hug and kissed her on the lips passionately. "I'd do anything to make you happy, Tia. You mean the world to me, don't ever doubt that."

Tia was moved to tears of joy from his caring and selfless gesture. 'I won't, Bennett. Believe me, I won't. You are everything to me.'

They stayed in their embrace for a while, then they let go while still holding each other's hand. "So what happened after you brought us to the shop? Everything was fuzzy and kind of blurry and I was no longer awake after Tessai starting bandaging us."

"Well, Hat-and-Clogs asked us what happened and right when Randy started to tell what took place on our side, he started wobbling a little on his feet and fell down on his ass, losing consciousness after a few seconds sitting down. I think I also somehow fell unconscious a moment after that. Everything went black for me and I woke up here with you." he said.

"How did both of you somehow get knocked out with no explanation? That's very unusual." she asked.

_"That would be my doing."_ came a voice out of nowhere. They turned around rapidly and saw the same crystal orb the other pair of soulmates encountered. _"There is no need to panic. I didn't do it with malicious intent in mind."_

"Who are you and how did you get inside my Inner World?" asked Bennett in restrained irritation. This orb was an unknown and whether it was friend or foe remained to be seen.

_I believe Kisuke may have alluded to my existence when he would talk about the Hollowfication Incidents over one hundred years ago. I am the Hogyoku, the device that he used to stabilize the victims of Aizen's experiments,"_ explained the Hogyoku. _"As for why I am here, I have witnessed all you have done and accomplished and heard your pleas to save your soulmate. Like your brother and his own lover, you two have passed my test to receive my help, which I have already explained to them."_

Tia asked cautiously, "What will you help us with exactly?" Living as a Hollow in Hueco Mundo tended to leave one skeptical and wary of any help another Hollow gave as it could very well lead to them getting eaten and assimilated.

_"Helping you regain your heart and become complete and a true hybrid of a Soul Reaper and Hollow like Benetto, Tia."_

This was something the blonde was not expecting for the Hogyoku to say. "Can that even be possible? As much as I want to become whole again, I'm not even sure there's a way to do that." she said with disbelief.

Without missing a beat, the orb said, _"It is very possible. Nelliel is attempting to do so as we speak. Succeeding gives other Arrancars like your Fracciones the chance to do so on their own."_

Tia now knew she wanted to do this not just for herself and Bennett but for Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun. "What do I need to do?"

_"As I told the other two, look into your past and find why you lost your heart to despair. You must then find a reason to recapture it from despair and complete yourself. After that, you must then reclaim your heart from the negative emotions and despair within yourself."_

"I understand. I'm ready to do this." Tia affirmed her decision with confidence. Her boyfriend squeezed her hand in reassurance.

_"We'll get started then."_

* * *

"When Tia and I faced our pasts and became true hybrids, we gained Inner Worlds of our own that were connected to Randy's and Bennett's. In addition to that, we also learned our Zanpakutos' names. Both of us still have our Resurreccion releases, but now we have an actual Soul Reaper release and Zanpakuto spirits as well," explained Nel. "We will show you our Shikai that we have later, but we'd like to keep our pasts private for now." The rest of the room accepted it since it was a well known fact that Hollows were born from despair and sometimes the events that lead to the creation of a Soul's despair weren't exactly pretty to hear or know.

Sung-sun was amazed at the possibility of becoming a whole person and having their hearts back. "Master Halibel, are we really able to regain our hearts like when we were alive and be complete again?"

Tia held up her hand. "No more of this 'Master Halibel' stuff, Sung-Sun. I am no longer your superior and you three are no longer my subordinates. I'd like for you to just call me 'Tia'. To answer your question, it is very possible, but the Hogyoku cannot be used to do so since we were the first two that went through the process with its guidance and the process took just about all the power it had because it fundamentally changed what we are. But you are able to do so without it. It's a good feeling to be whole again, there's no question about it."

Kisuke had an astonished look on his face at the information he had been given while Tia and Nel were speaking. "God, so not only is the Hogyoku sentient, but you two regained your hearts you lost when you first became Hollows and then became Vizards like Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett. Not even the combined intellect of both Aizen and I could come up with something like that." He let out a defeated sigh. "You know what, I am not going to have any expectations for you any longer because all of you just blow them out of the water and give me more headaches to deal with." he mumbled in slight frustration.

Tia and Nel chuckled at Kisuke's complaining while the brothers snickered. "Hey Hat-and-Clogs, earlier you said there were some people who were in the same boat as us and who would be giving some help. Why have they not shown up yet?" asked Ichigo after they had their fun.

The perverted man said, "They're the captains and lieutenants we saved when Aizen experimented on them all those years ago, who are classified as Vizards, hybrids of Soul Reapers and Hollows, which is what you five are, though both your sides are completely balanced with each other while they lean more toward the Soul Reaper aspect of themselves. They stayed around Karakura Town with us when we left the Soul Society. The thing about them is they have the ability to manifest a Hollow mask to enhance their abilities and gain Hollow powers, which they will teach you how to do, but I suspect Tia and Nel will have an easier time with this and can help out the rest of you since they used to be Arrancars and know how to use their Hollow abilities."

Randy asked, "There's less than a week left before we go to save Rukia. Any edge we can gain will help immensely. When can they start teaching us?"

"I'll get in contact with them today and have you start tomorrow. All of you can take the day off to rest from this unexpected ordeal and get your minds in a better state as well." All of them nodded in agreement and started heading out of the shop.

Before Ichigo left however, he decided to ask his girlfriend about something after he heard his brothers and their girlfriends' story. "Yoruichi, I was wondering. Since Tia and Nel will be living with us from now on, would you like to stay with us like they are doing?" he nervously inquired. He hoped she would say yes because it would mean a lot to him if his sisters got to know his girlfriend.

She smiled and hugged him. "Aw, that's sweet of you, Ichi. I'd love to. As much as I cherish Kisuke as my best friend, his antics and perverted tendencies do get on my nerves a lot. I can get my clothes and possessions from the shop and bring them to your house tomorrow. And I am staying with you in your room, got it? Don't worry, I'm not going do anything like what you're thinking I might do. That'll come later when we feel ready. We'll just be sleeping in the same bed in the same room." she said, easing his worries about the potential problem that them being in the same bed could have caused.

"Do you want to come with us right now so I can introduce you to my sisters? You already know my crazy father, but I think you will really enjoy meeting Karin and Yuzu."

"Sure."

Once everyone was out of the shop, they discussed a little bit about where Sung-sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci would reside now, to which they said they wanted stay with the people who housed them the previous night since Chad and Orihime didn't care that they were Arrancars and treated them like normal people. All of them saw no problem with the arrangement because it meant their friends could help teach the three Arrancars a few minor things about modern life, given that the former Fracciones had already known nearly all the information one needed to know to live in the twenty first century with a few exceptions (though Tia and Nel knew everything due to the fact Aizen wanted them to blend in normally in the World of the Living if he didn't succeed in his plot and they needed to hide there), and it solved the small problem of integrating them into society.

After that little conversation, Yoruichi, Tia, Ichigo, Nel, Bennett, and Randy departed to the Kurosaki household, Uryu and Tatsuki went to their respective residences, and the female Arrancars left with the person each of them would stay with. On the way, Tia and Nel asked about the boys' father, not knowing a whole lot about the man. Yoruichi snickered at what was going to be an interesting discussion concerning the aforementioned dumbass while Bennett, Randy, and Ichigo groaned when they heard the question.

"Oh god, where do I begin?" lamented the redhead. He gave a defeated sigh. "Isshin Kurosaki, formerly Squad 10 Captain Isshin Shiba of the Shiba Clan of the Seireitei, is probably one of the idiotic people we have ever had the displeasure of knowing. He is a complete manchild who still treats Yuzu and Karin like they are little kids, ambushes us multiple times a day to attack us for the simple reason of 'making us into men', and bawls to a oversized memorial picture of our mom about 'where did he go wrong in raising their three sons who became delinquents.'"

"I don't know if he was like this when he lived in the Soul Society, but how he has survived with all the shit he does daily is beyond me. But lately, he has been more understanding and supportive of us and lessened most of his antics ever since Rukia first appeared, though it might not be permanent. One of the good things about him is he was one of the local hospital's top surgeons and he made very good money doing that, so he knows how to provide for us and makes us pretty well off. He now runs a small clinic that is connected to our house and deals with smaller injuries, but he still goes to the hospital sometimes when they require him for a surgery if Uryu's dad is busy or not available at the time and they pay him well when he does so." Randy gave some props to his father for at least starting to be less of an ass.

Bennett added, "Though if he starts to act up, all of you have our permission to sock him in the jaw, especially you, Yoruichi, since you have known him for a long time. Karin and all three of us do so to stop him from being an idiot."

"Will do." Tia giggled.

They soon arrived at the house and knocked on the door. Isshin opened the door and nearly fell on his ass when he saw his three sons standing in the doorway. "Hey, Dad." said the brothers.

"Welcome home, boys." He then pointed at the black-haired teen and blond and sarcastically said, "You just love to give me scares, don't you? I thought I was going to have a heart attack when your brother called me and told me about you two passing out at Kisuke's shop."

Randy and Bennett sheepishly scratched the back of their heads. "Yeah, we're sorry about that." nervously chuckled the punk culture enthusiast.

Their father then noticed the three women standing with them. "Benetto, Randii, are they your soulmates?"

Randy grasped Nel's hand as did Bennett with Tia's. "Dad, the turquoise-haired girl is my soulmate and girlfriend, Nelliel 'Nel' Tu Odelschwanck. The blonde girl is Tia Halibel, Bennett's soulmate and girlfriend."

"Hello/Hi." both of them said.

"It's nice to meet the ladies that stole my sons' hearts." He noticed Yoruichi's hand holding his orange-haired son's. "If you're here, Yoruichi, then does that mean you are Ichigo's...?"

"Yes, Isshin. We're soulmates as well as boyfriend and girlfriend. Now, are you going to stand there all day looking like a dope or can we come in now?" she jabbed with a feline smirk at the bearded man. He chuckled at his old friend's mischievous attitude and opened the door all the way to let them inside.

All of them followed him into the house and they sat down on the sectional couch in the family room. For about an hour, they talked about what happened to bring Tia and Nel to the World of the Living, how the two new Vizards had attained their current state of being, and their new living arrangements (the boys' father didn't mind the plan at all since it would make his sons happy and give his daughters some interaction with another female presence). A decision all of them came to was they would need to go to the mall and get the two former Arrancars essentials like clothes, necessities that only females used, and other things that were needed. Yoruichi wouldn't need any of that since all of her stuff was at the Urahara shop and they could just bring it after training tomorrow.

Karin and Yuzu eventually came downstairs from their room and noticed the three gorgeous women sitting with their older brothers. "Goat-chin, who are they and why are they sitting with Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett?" asked the more serious of the twins.

"Karin, Yuzu, these are our girlfriends, Yoruichi, Nel, and Tia. They are going to become a part of our family and live with us for reasons we won't disclose at the moment." said Ichigo.

The kind-hearted Yuzu started bawling. "You three can't have girlfriends yet, you can't be growing up that fast! You'll spend all your time with them and won't spend any with us! Wah!"she sobbed.

"Yuzu, we're still going to spend time with both of you. They will too and I think you'll like them. They will be like older sisters to you two. And don't worry, we're not that old yet or going anywhere for a long time." explained Bennett to his crying younger sibling, throwing in a little joke to cheer her up. Luckily, it worked and the light-haired twin let out a small giggle at the joke as she wiped her tears away from her eyes.

"No, I guess you're not," she responded. "It's nice to meet you three. I hope you enjoy living with us." Then the cute little girl had a creepy expression on her normally adorable face that scared the rest of the people in the living room a little and sent shivers down their spines, even the battle-hardened ex-Stealth Force Commander that was Yoruichi Shihoin felt somewhat afraid seeing the ghastly look the sweet, innocent child had. "But if any of you hurt Ichigo, Bennett, or Randy or break their hearts, you better be prepared to run, suffer and pay dearly because there will be no place for you to hide or escape from my wrath, got that?" The three women nodded, knowing they would never do that to the men they loved but also not wanting to risk the wrath of their younger sibling.

Yuzu dropped the scary look and adopted a happy one instead. "Welcome to the family, it's going to be fun having three older sisters." She smiled as if she had not dropped a threat of pure suffering.

Everyone, save for the young girl who had made the threat, sweatdropped at the declaration Yuzu had made. 'Jeez, Yuzu. I get the protective-sibling-threatening-the-girlfriend/boyfriend schtick, but that felt like the Grim Reaper himself was behind me and breathing down my neck.' was the thought all of them shared.

"Well, all of us are going to head to the mall in a little bit to get some clothes and stuff for Tia and Nel since they don't have very much with them in the way of possessions," Randy said. "Come on, we'll show you our rooms upstairs for a bit, then we need to get going after that." The six of them got up and walked up the staircase to enter their respective rooms.

Unlike her sister, the other twin in the household was a little conflicted with her thoughts about the three women her brothers were dating that she had just met and had immediately deducted this had something to do with what she had seen in the cemetery all those weeks ago. Karin was not sure what exactly had happened to cause them to meet her siblings, so she decided to confront all of them now and get an answer after they came back from the mall. She followed them up the stairs and opened the door to Ichigo's room, seeing the sight of him and the dark-skinned, purple-haired woman talking and looking around the room.

"Ichigo?" she asked. They turned towards her when they heard her voice in the doorway.

"What's up, Karin?" he asked in turn.

"We need to talk about what all of you were doing fighting that giant monster with that black-haired teenage girl near Mom's grave. I want an answer and an honest one too." Seeing both of them freeze, she continued to speak. "You don't have to tell me now, but you will explain what happened after you get home from shopping."

They sighed. "Alright, we'll do so. But you cannot speak a word of this to your sister until we feel she is able to handle it. Promise me that." the Strawberry requested. She nodded in understanding and left the room, closing the door as she exited and went downstairs. Silence ensued for a good thirty seconds before both of them groaned in irritation. "Shit, I did not expect this to happen. I know she can see spirits just like we can, but she must have seen us battling Grand Fisher somehow. And now, we have to tell her everything." he lamented.

His soulmate rubbed her temples. "Just imagining how interesting that conversation will be is already giving me a headache. Good thinking on your part to her not to say anything to Yuzu, she may have sent chills throughout my body with her little threat but I can tell she's just too innocent right now to know anything. We'll tell the others on the way to the mall, focusing on helping Nel and Tia choosing clothes and feminine products should get our minds off of this for now."

"You're right. Let's go get the others and be on our way."

* * *

The sextet arrived at the mall after a long walk and small discussion about Karin wanting to know about what they were up to. Needless to say, none of them were looking forward to telling her about their extracurricular activities. But they couldn't do anything about it at that point in time, so they shoved it into the back of their minds.

Inside the mall, they went to several different stores with the two female Vizards trying on different outfits and Yoruichi helping them with deciding what would look good on them and choosing what they wanted. It didn't take very long since Tia and Nel weren't particularly picky about clothes unlike many girls that were the age that their visual appearance appeared as. They eventually ran into Tatsuki and Orihime helping Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun choosing articles of clothing while Yasutora waited off to the side, looking a little out of place and out of his element. The boys pulled him out of the store to keep the gentle giant from becoming more uncomfortable than he already was. They decided to take him to a music store to surround him in a familiar element in addition to look for CDs of albums that Apple Music and iTunes didn't have in their selections (because of each of the Kurosaki boys' extremely similar preferences of music they enjoyed, there were quite a few LPs that fit the bill).

While Sado liked classic rock artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Black Sabbath as well as a bunch of others, Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett liked a wide variety of modern rock music that consisted of nu metal bands like Limp Bizkit, Mushroomhead, and Dangerkids, rap rock/rap metal/rapcore artists such as Hollywood Undead, Biohazard, and Deuce, metalcore groups such as Crown the Empire, Emmure, and Stray from the Path, and heavy metal players like Disturbed, Fozzy, and Pantera. Since the older Kurosakis liked the same stuff, it made getting CDs for presents to the others easier for them but caused a lot of fighting between them on who the CDs belonged to when it was just something they purchased and not a gift.

The thing that was common between every single group all of them liked was the bands were all from Western civilization and none of them were Japanese in origin. Because the mixed teen grew up in Mexico for a large majority of his youth and knew Spanish, English, and Japanese and the brothers spoke both Japanese and English and were highly proficient, though not perfect, in German since Quincies came from the German-speaking nations in Europe and Masaki spoke the language to them a lot in their childhood, Japanese music was ruined for them and they could not listen to the stuff, instead preferring tunes in English. But they weren't complaining because it was great music and the song topics were always incredibly diverse and creative.

Each of them bought some albums they wanted and exited the store. They found the girls with some shopping bags holding a large amount of clothing and hygiene products. Greeting the male teenagers, the females picked up the bags and headed out the mall with the boys alongside them. They bade goodbye to each other and left to the house they lived or were staying at.

"Did you find everything you needed, Nel?" asked Randy as they were walking home, each boy carrying a few of the bags to take a portion of the load off their arms.

"We did. Yoruichi helped us a bunch and gave us ideas and tips on what to pick, buy, and wear. She really knows her fashion and has a good idea of what she's doing."

Ichigo took the opportunity to tease his girlfriend a little. "I'm willing that's because she may be a closet shopaholic. Would I be correct in my assumption, Ms. Shohoin?"

The dark skinned heiress blushed a little and thumped on the arm, but had a noticeable smile on her face. "I am and damn proud of it, Mr. Kurosaki. You tend to pick up on the trends and what people are wearing when you've lived in the World of the Living for as long as I have. There was really no issues with figuring out what they wanted to have, they just needed some ideas to push them in the right direction."

"Let's just hope your soulmate doesn't turn into a fascist version of the Fashion Police, bro." Bennett joked good-naturedly. All of them laughed at the comment the punk teen gave.

They reached the house and entered, immediately going straight up to their rooms to deposit the bags to put the clothing away at a later time. As soon as that task was finished, all of them went to Ichigo's room and took a seat while his taller brother got Karin to come to the room to talk.

"We might as well get this over with. I'm not exactly sure how she will take in this influx of revelations, but I think she will very much be shocked at everything we will tell her." said Randy. The rest of them agreed.

Karin and Bennett entered and shut the door so they would not be disturbed. Then the serious pre-teen asked, "So what exactly have you three been up to?"

Ichigo sighed. This was not going to be easy.

"Well..."

* * *

**And there. As always, read and review. And no flaming please.**

**So I have actually realized I might need to give a real life example of Bennett and Randy's hairstyle since I think some people won't have a very clear idea of what the haircuts look like. Bennett's haircut is the same style as former WCW, WWE, and TNA/Impact Wrestling pro wrestler Shannon Moore when he had the full mohawk, just colored black and with the dyes previously described in the first chapter. Randy's haircut is the same as the only current vocalist in the rapcore/hardcore punk band Biohazard, Billy Graziadei's style in the music video for the song "Tales from the Hard Side" from their third album "State of the World Address." Look up pictures of these two people and you have a pretty good picture of what the brothers' haircuts look like.**

**Some may question why I put those genres and bands for the selection of music Ichigo, Randy, and Bennett prefer to listen to. The bands I listed are some of the ones I love and listen to a bunch in real life, many of them being players of nu metal, rap rock, metalcore, and heavy metal. If you were a teen during the late 90's and early 2000's, you would have heard bands like Limp Bizkit, LINKIN PARK, P.O.D., and Papa Roach on the radio a lot. Nu metal was _the _genre to listen to at the time but had a reputation for being an extremely hated genre of music, though I don't really care. I LOVE the genre, and the funny thing is that I had never heard of it until I started listening to LINKIN PARK and a few other bands that had played music considered nu metal. I then discovered Hollywood Undead in June of 2019 and I was hooked. I searched for a list of bands that played that style of music and I just went on a nu metal craze. I would discover more and more artists involved with the genre and add their songs to my phone. And it wasn't just nu metal. When I found out that Hollywood Undead was also labeled rap rock as well, bam! Same thing happened. Just a little background information on the choices I gave the boys.**

**Also, the reason I had the boys ask their soulmates if they wanted to live with them is because I believe that even though Kisuke is her best friend, Yoruichi would definitely get fed up with his antics and perverted tendencies a lot and need many breaks from them. Plus, Tia and Nel really have nowhere to go after fleeing Hueco Mundo. The becoming Vizards concept was inspired by "Welcome to my World" by LiamG, an excellent author whose awesome Bleach stories involving Yoruichi, Tia, and Ichigo I have read before. Unfortunately, they have not been updating since December of 2018, though they have favorited stories that have been published as recently as May of 2020, which makes me believe he's taken a break from writing and is now just reading on here. I recommend you go check them out.**

**I also need to put a list of original concepts that I have put in my stories on my bio page such as the attacks and Zanpakutos I created and google translated for you guys, that way people remember what they are instead of having to go back and search for them in the stories.**

**One last thing, I will be taking a small break from "Power of Three" to work on "Undead" more. This is not a hiatus or anything like that, I just need to get the story caught up since I have not worked out it since May and I have some great ideas swirling around in my head.**

**Crash, out.**


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